Bhopal: The Directorate of Enforcement's (ED) Bhopal Zonal Office has filed a charge sheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, against former Panchayat CEO Shobhit Tripathi and two other persons before a special court in Bhopal, in a case relating to the alleged fraudulent disbursement of government funds under Madhya Pradesh's Marriage Assistance Scheme, an ED press note said on Saturday.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The scheme provides financial assistance of Rs 51,000 to the daughters of registered poor construction workers. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Janpad Panchayat, Sironj, from 2019 to November 2021, Tripathi, in collusion with others, allegedly approved and disbursed Rs 30.18 crore across 5,923 suspicious marriage assistance cases, the ED said. Particle News also reported the charge sheet filing in its roundup of the agency's actions on Saturday.

Source: Particle News

According to the probe, forged and fabricated application forms and credentials of ineligible beneficiaries were allegedly used to fraudulently claim benefits under the scheme. Funds were allegedly transferred into bank accounts opened using the credentials of these persons without their knowledge, then moved to makeshift bank accounts controlled by the accused and withdrawn in cash through multiple tranches. Investigators also found that benefits were allegedly extended to ineligible persons even during the Covid-19 lockdown period, when public marriages were prohibited, the ED said.

The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Bhopal, under Sections 420 and 409 read with 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13(1)(e) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Tripathi and others.

In the earlier development in the same case, the ED attached various immovable properties belonging to Tripathi and his associate Hemant Sahu, and searches in the matter led to the recovery of several incriminating documents. Tripathi was arrested on September 2 under the PMLA and is currently in judicial custody. The ED has stated that further investigation in the case is in progress.