CHENNAI: After conducting searches at 21 locations across the state, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized Rs 13.18 lakh in cash, froze 56 bank accounts and two demat accounts, and recovered documents related to 36 immovable properties with a guidance value of Rs 9.67 crore.
The ED said it carried out the searches on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of its investigation into the alleged tampering of OMR sheets in the recruitment examination for government polytechnic lecturers conducted by the TRB in 2017.
According to a release, the agency’s investigation is based on a TN police FIR registered in 2017 alleging scanned OMR answer sheets were digitally altered to inflate the marks of select candidates.
The ED claimed an additional 385 secondary OMR sheets were prepared, which resulted in 262 undeserving candidates being declared qualified before petitions exposed the alleged fraud. This exposure led to the re-evaluation of answer sheets and cancellation of results.
The agency further alleged the accused V Subramanian and his associate Suresh Paul, with assistance from Datatec technical staff Shaik Dawood Nassar and I Raghupati collected amounts ranging from `14 lakh to `16 lakh from candidates through agents and middlemen, routing the money through proxy firms and bank accounts before investing it in immovable properties and jewellery.
During the searches, officials also seized records of cash collections, carbon copies of OMR sheets related to various government examinations, candidates’ certificates and digital evidence. Further probe is on.