Rs 82 lakh belonging to postal dept peon frozen for fraud

A special anti-money laundering court in Delhi has frozen Rs 82 lakh belonging to a postal service peon here for allegedly defrauding the department and investors through postal saving schemes.
The order has been issued by the adjudicating authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the national capital after Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case in this regard and booked peon Babubhai Bikabhai Chauhan, who was posted at the Undera Taluka post office here.
Investigators unearthed the unique modus operandi deployed by the peon under which he used to allegedly allow unauthorised operators to work on the department's computers.

The peon was in possession of the office keys for the last 22 years (since 1988). The keys, it has been alleged, were used to open the post office premises well before time and it would be closed after office hours.
"I am convinced that the defendant (Chauhan) had actively participated in the conspiracy to defraud the postal department and shared the proceeds from the crime.
"(He) then laundered them by investing in Kissan Vikas Patrikas/MIS and ICICI Prudential Policies," the court of acting Authority Chairman K Raamamoorthy said while confirming the attachment order of the ED in this regard.

The ED picked up the case after CBI filed a charge sheet against Chauhan and other department officials based on a complaint by senior postal department officials in 2010.
The complaint, relating to Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS) and other postal schemes, had alleged that certain officials had defrauded the postal department to the tune of Rs 8 crore.
The irregularities were allegedly effected by manipulating computerised data relating to postal savings schemes with the active participation and connivance of post office staff and a few outsiders.