NT Reporter
Panaji
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji zonal office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at Rs 78 lakh under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case of bank fraud involving misappropriation of public funds from the Anjuna branch of a nationalised bank.
The attached properties consist of a shop and a flat in Ponda, a plot of land in Anjuna and bank balances.
ED had initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Cell (EOC) of the Goa police (later the case was transferred to the Crime Branch, Goa police), against Udit Narayan, the then manager of Bank of Baroda’s Anjuna branch and others. The accused were alleged to have entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the Bank of Baroda and its customers by unauthorised diversion of funds from the accounts of bona fide customers without any mandate or authorisation.
The total Proceeds of Crime (PoC) in this case has been quantified at Rs 2.34 crore, ED said.
The ED said the investigation has revealed that Narayan, abusing his official position as bank manager, planned a systematic fraud by fraudulently debiting the accounts of unsuspecting customers, including the Comunidade of Anjuna and other dormant accounts.
The misappropriated funds were layered through ‘mule’ bank accounts of his associates who acted
as willing conduits to conceal the illicit origin of the funds, ED said adding that, as per the investigation, forged signatures and benami SIM cards were used to execute these unauthorised transfers.
The attached properties consist of a commercial shop and a flat in Ponda, a plot of land in Anjuna and bank balances held in the name of Narayan.
These immovable properties are held in the names of the conduits and have been attached as it constitutes the value equivalent to the Proceeds of Crime derived from the scheduled offence,
ED said.
