Bhopal, Feb 6 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bhopal Zonal Office, has provisionally attached two residential flats and 22 movable properties, including fixed deposits and bank balances, totalling approximately Rs 1.58 crore.
The assets belong to the late Ved Prakash Shrivastava, former Divisional Engineer of Western Railways, Rajkot Division in Gujarat, and his wife Vibha Shrivastava.
The attachment was carried out on February 5, 2026, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, an ED press release said.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Branch, Jabalpur, against the late Ved Prakash Shrivastava and his wife for allegedly acquiring disproportionate assets by misusing his official position.
The CBI had filed a charge sheet/final report dated May 22, 2023, before the Special Court for CBI cases, Jabalpur, under Sections 109 and 13(1)(e) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, it said.
The total proceeds of crime in the case have been assessed at approximately Rs 1.66 crore.
The ED probe revealed that unaccounted cash generated from corrupt activities was initially retained and used outside the banking system for day-to-day expenses, as indicated by minimal cash withdrawals from bank accounts.
Subsequently, portions of the proceeds of crime were deposited into bank accounts held in the names of family members. These funds were then converted into fixed deposits, investments, and utilised for acquiring immovable properties, including residential flats registered in the names of family members who had no independent source of income, the release said.
The attachment covers the disproportionate assets allegedly acquired through layering and diffusion of the money trail.
The action aims to prevent further dissipation of the alleged proceeds of crime and follows confirmation of the money laundering angle linked to the predicate offence established by the CBI.
–IANS
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