(MENAFN- IANS) Bhopal, Nov 29 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bhopal Zonal Office, has provisionally attached 12 immovable properties valued at approximately Rs 2.08 crore in Ashta town of Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh belonging to prime accused Manoj Parmar and his associates in a major bank loan fraud case involving government self-employment schemes.

The attachment has been made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case registered against Manoj Parmar, Mark Pius Karari (then Branch Manager, Punjab National Bank, Ashta branch), and others.

The ED initiated the money-laundering probe on the basis of an FIR and subsequent charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bhopal, under sections of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and corruption.

Investigation revealed that in 2016, Manoj Parmar, in active collusion with the then PNB Branch Manager, fraudulently got 18 loans totalling Rs 6.20 crore sanctioned (Rs 6.01 crore actually disbursed) under two flagship government schemes -- Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Chief Minister Yuva Udyami Yojana (CMYUY) of Madhya Pradesh.

The loans were sanctioned in the names of 18 fictitious/bogus applicants using completely forged documents, fabricated quotations and fake project reports.

Bank rules were brazenly flouted -- mandatory second-level approvals were bypassed, loans far beyond the Branch Manager's sanctioning powers were cleared, and no field verification was conducted at the time of disbursement.

Subsequent inspections by the bank confirmed that not a single business unit was ever established.

Many supposed borrowers, when contacted, denied having applied for or received any loan.

The entire loan amount was immediately diverted to accounts of firms and entities controlled by Manoj Parmar and his close associates.

The money was then systematically layered through multiple linked firms, withdrawn in cash and partly used to purchase immovable properties in the names of Parmar and his benamidars -- exactly the properties now attached by the ED.

The agency has described the operation as a clear case of diversion and laundering of government subsidised public funds meant for youth employment. Further investigation to trace the remaining proceeds of crime and identify additional assets is underway.

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