KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the Ernakulam CBI Special Court order relaxing the bail condition and permitting Uthup Varghese, an accused in the nursing recruitment scam, to visit the UAE.The ED had registered a case against Uthup Varghese for the offence under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The petition stated while granting bail to the accused, the special court made it clear he shall not leave Ernakulam district without court permission. On November 24, the special court suspended the condition for a period of 45 days, facilitating Varghese to leave the country. Based on the order, Uthup Varghese left the country on November 26.
According to the petitioner, the accused rushed to the UAE only to derail the probe in the case. Uthup had allegedly swindled `400 crore from nursing students and the Enforcement Directorate has been trying to find out the money. The investigation revealed `100 crore was moved out of the country through two hawala channels with his knowledge.
The directorate informed its investigation in the UAE to identify the associates of Uthup and Al Zarafa Global UAE was at a crucial stage. Relaxing the bail conditions would allow him to interact with his associates and defeat the objective of confiscation of the amount. But the special court relaxed the bail condition without considering the objection, the plea stated.