7 officials booked for Rs80-crore bungling

Amritsar : An embezzlement of public money worth crores of rupees allegedly by seven Amritsar Improvement Trust officials has come to the fore during an investigation by the Chief Vigilance Office of the Local Bodies Department.
The district police have registered an FIR against three Estate Officers Arvind Sharma, DC Garg and Paramjit Singh, besides Deputy Controller Finance and Accounts (DCFA) Daman Bhalla, Tina Vohra, CA Sanjay Kapoor and bill clerk Satnam Singh. All accused are on the run.
Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said as of now it seemed that at least Rs 80 crore had been siphoned off. The probe has been handed over to the police after a department inquiry.
Chief Vigilance Officer Sudip Singh Manak claimed that the money was withdrawn in a fraudulent manner from around 70 bank accounts by issuing 49 cheques, DDs, pay orders since 2013. The money was transferred by the accused in their family members’ accounts. Many bank accounts were not even entered in the cash book of the department. As per the modus operandi, the accused used to deposit money pertaining to the improvement trust in fake bank accounts opened in the name of the trust. They would then withdraw the amount on the pretext of spending on various works such as disbursal of salaries and other “public friendly” tasks. A probe document procured by The Tribune reveals that Rs 58.15 crore was deposited between December 6, 2013, and May 16, 2017, in an HDFC bank account no. 501100028499581, opened illegally in the name of Improvement Trust, Amritsar.