CHENNAI:The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday carried out searches in Madurai and Chennai against bureaucrats and bank officials involved in corruption and money laundering.
This was part of nationwide searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act targeting government officials, including those working in Central public sector units and state governments. Searches have been conducted at 18 premises across 10 states in the country.
In Tamil Nadu, the searches were carried out in three places in Chennai and one in Madurai, said Enforcement Directorate (ED) Joint Director K S V V Prasad. He said they were stand-alone cases and did not pertain to anything specific.
The ED conducted searches in Madurai against bank officials who had allegedly sanctioned loans for extended credit facilities to private parties without obtaining proper documents or collateral securities and without following norms thus causing financial loss to banks.
Similarly, searches were carried out against certain officials of the Employees Provident Fund Office (EPFO) in Chennai. One of these officers was allegedly involved in financial irregularities and had transferred EPFO funds of `2 crore to the accounts of his relatives and family, while the other officer had been caught accepting bribe.