ED attaches assets worth Rs 12.98 crore of former chairman of Jodhpur National University
The attached assets include 12 flats, three plots, a building and 31 bigha agriculture land located in Jaipur, Jodhpur and New Delhi, and an amount lying in bank accounts.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that it has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets totalling to Rs 12.98 crores of Kamal Mehta, the former chairman of Jodhpur National University, Jodhpur, his family members and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)in a case relating to the issuance of fake degrees and mark sheets.
The attached assets include 12 flats, three plots, a building and 31 bigha agriculture land located in Jaipur, Jodhpur and New Delhi, and an amount lying in bank accounts. The ED, in the release, said that it had initiated an investigation under the PMLA on the basis of an FIR and a chargesheet filed by the Special Thana, SOG, Jaipur against Kamal Mehta and his other associates under Section 120B read with 420, 467, 468 of IPC for issuance of fake degrees/mark sheets.
“Accused Kamal Mehta, Managing Trustee of Kushal Education Trust had established Jodhpur National University, Jodhpur in 2008 under the said trust. While working as the chairman of Jodhpur National University, he actively indulged in running a syndicate for issuing and selling fake degrees and mark sheets to students for money. He appointed four National Coordinators of Jodhpur National University by issuing fake authorization letters in the name of Registrar of the University for the purpose of collection of fees, forms, conduct of examination,” release said.
“These national coordinators had various centers/ sub-centers under them at various places across India. The appointment of national coordinators and centers/ sub-centers was not approved by the University Grant Commission. The investigation conducted so far under PMLA revealed that accused Kamal Mehta has illegally received around Rs. 22.3 crores through these National Coordinators,” release added.
The investigation further revealed that the accused established a parallel office in Jaipur to facilitate the distribution of fake degree/mark sheets and issued more than 25,000 degrees/mark sheets to various students during the period of 2010 to 2014, the ED said.
Earlier the ED had attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 8.53 crores of Kamal Mehta, Kushal Education Trust, and others. Now including this, the total attachment in the case is Rs 21.51 crores. (ANI)