HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday provisionally attached assets worth Rs 144.4 crore belonging to Dr Devika Rani, the then Director of Insurance Medical Services (IMS), Telangana, and other officials, their family members and suppliers of medicines in the IMS scam.
These include 131 immovable assets consisting of 97 plots, 6 villas, 18 commercial shops, 6 agricultural lands and 4 flats in and around Hyderabad, other parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore and Noida, and also movable assets in the form of securities and fixed deposits acquired by the accused persons.
The ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of eight FIRs registered by the Telangana ACB against IMS officials, along with private persons including suppliers of medicines to IMS, for violations in the tendering process, misappropriation of government funds and causing losses to the state exchequer to the tune of more than Rs 211 crore.
In a release, the ED said it had found that Dr Devika Rani, in collusion with other accused and staff of IMS, blatantly violated all norms of the government orders and prudent office procedures to issue purchase orders to firms mostly belonging to supplier K Srihari Babu and also benami firms set up by her, P Rajeshwar Reddy etc.
Further, medical items were purchased at grossly inflated prices. Indents of dispensaries were fabricated and stock registers were fabricated to siphon off the medicines. Dr K Padma, Joint Director IMS, was found to be siphoning off medicine supplies in the name of medical camps. Patented products were sold in a cyclical manner and ultimately purchased by IMS at four to five times their normal market rate.
Dr Devika Rani, pharmacist Nagalaxmi and their families, in order to layer and conceal the bribe money, entered into a conspiracy with M/s PMJ Jewellers and over a period of one year, regularly channeled their bribe money and purchased costly jewellery worth around Rs 6.28 crore from the proceeds of the crime.
They along with their families also gave large cash advances to purchase prime real estate. Cash was also deposited in their bank accounts at regular intervals and the same was used to buy immovable properties.
These proceeds of crime have been well layered by showing excess profit or cash infusion in their personal bank accounts or accounts of various shell firms. The ED has done fund trail investigation and identified the properties. Further investigations are in progress.