New ED charge sheet details supply chain in crime proceeds distribution

Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its fresh charge sheet filed at a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata has detailed the supply chain followed in distribution of proceeds in the alleged multi-crore recruitment scam in the state-run schools of West Bengal.

Sources said that private real estate promoter Ayan Sil and expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader Santanu Bandopadhyay, acted as the secondary layer of a two-layered bridge between the masterminds of the alleged scam and the candidates willing to pay money against recruitments in state-run schools.

"Sil and Bandopadhyay were mainly responsible for identifying such candidates and collecting money from them," an ED associate aware of the contents of the charge sheet said.

It is learnt that once the money was collected another expelled youth Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh used to enter the scene who used to act as the primary layer in this two-layered supply chain bridge. Shil and Bandopadhyay, according to sources, used to handover the major portion of the proceeds collected by them to the representative of the masterminds in the state education department and West Bengal School Service Commission as per instructions of Kuntal Ghosh.

Sources added that before handing over that money, Sil and Bandopadhyay used to retain a portion of the proceeds collected by them as commission. Posh restaurants and coffee-shops of five-star hotels were the venues for handover of the proceeds to the representatives of the masterminds in the alleged scam.

As per the fresh charge sheet of ED filed on Monday, Sil alone collected Rs 45 crore as commission from the candidates willing to pay money against jobs only in case of the alleged recruitment scam in state-run schools. In addition, sources said, he collected hefty collections from candidates in the alleged recruitment scam in different municipalities in the state the final calculation of which is yet to be derived by the central agency sleuths.

While Sil diverted the funds that he received as commission by floating a number of shell companies he opened, Bandopadhyay heavily invested his shares in real estate and hospitality business. The area of operations of Sil and Bandopadhyay were mainly in North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts. [IANS/JS]