Massive Clampdown: ED Seizes Rs. 36 Crore Assets in J&K Health Insurance Scam
The ED has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching the assets
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached fixed deposits and a land worth more than ₹36 crore belonging to two companies, Reliance General Insurance Pvt. Ltd. and Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Private Limited, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged insurance scam in Jammu and Kashmir.
The central agency has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching the assets.
In a statement, the ED said that probe relates to “fraudulently” awarding of tender of Mediclaim Insurance Policy for J&K government employees, public sector undertaking’s employees and pensioners to Reliance General Insurance by the J&K finance department in collusion with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Limited, an insurance brokerage firm.
The ED case of money laundering stems from an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that was filed after former J&K governor Satyapal Malik had claimed that he was offered bribes to clear multiple files, including those for awarding contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees.
Malik, who was questioned by the CBI in this case last year, had claimed that he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including one relating to the alleged insurance scam, during his tenure as the J&K governor between August 23, 2018, and October 30, 2019.
The case was registered under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
ED investigations revealed that the J&K finance department “deliberately awarded the tender for engagement of intermediary (i.e Insurance Broker) for designing, floating the tender for and implementation of the said health scheme for government employees and pensioners of J&K by dubious or questionable selection/ shortlisting process” without holding the essential eligibility criteria.
Moreover, the tender for engagement of IRDAI registered insurance company was awarded through TRBL to the said insurance company (RGIPL), which was already blacklisted by government of Chhattisgarh, by modification and deletion of essential eligibility criteria even though the company had less presence in J&K and bare minimum experience, as pre-requirement of the tender, during the stipulated period,” it reads.
It added that in this way, ₹63.53 crore were fraudulently disbursed to these companies and out of this amount, medical claims of Rs. 17 crore had been disbursed by the RGIPL.
“ED has attached land worth ₹4.04 crore in the name Globus Trade Links Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of TRBL and FDRs valued at approximately ₹32.53 crore, pertaining to Reliance General Insurance Pvt. Ltd. Further investigation is under progress,” it said. Source
