HYDERABAD: Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, who had registered cases against Insurance Medicine Services (IMS) officials, including its former director Devika Rani, allegedly for money laundering, have recorded statements of the accused officer’s husband for further investigation. A team of officials who are part of the investigation has recorded statements of Devika Rani’s husband Guru Murthy, based on which they would probe the case further.
It was reported that the accused officer had purchased huge quantities of gold at a shop in Banjara Hills. Based on receipts and invoices of bills issued by the shop, the ED questioned staff and management personnel of the shop, and recorded their statements. Officials are likely to record statements of witnesses to establish money laundering activities carried out by the accused.
Recently, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials seized more than `10 crore unaccounted cash from the accused officers Devika Rani and Naga Lakshmi. They found that the accused officers had invested ill-gotten money in real estate and other business activities. ED officials are expected to serve notices to some more persons connected with the case, asking them to appear before the agency for questioning.
The accused officers had allegedly diverted government’s funds by allowing shell companies to supply indents of medicines at higher prices to ESI (Employees State Insurance) hospitals by creating false records. In return, the accused collected kickbacks from the firms.