Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate Hyderabad unit filed a prosecution complaint before the PMLA special court against Prisha Pearls (India) Private Ltd, its directors, and other companies, including Nilesh Kumar Agarwal, Gajanand Agarwal, and Sailesh Kumar Agarwal, Ganshyamdas Jewellers and Agravanshi Agro Farms LLP. The court took cognisance of the complaint on March 1.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by CBI, Hyderabad, against officials of Humayun Nagar sub-post office and others in connection with a criminal conspiracy involving Prisha Pearls. Following this, the CBI filed a chargesheet before the special judge for CBI cases in Hyderabad against the company and its directors.
According to the FIR and chargesheet, the accused fraudulently booked excess articles under value payable letter (VPL) and value payable post (VPP), causing a wrongful loss of Rs 7.6 crore to the department of posts (DOP).
To prevent the misuse of postal stamps, the DOP introduced the ‘remotely managed franking system,’ which involved the use of franking machines to print unique franking impression slips. Prisha Pearls purchased two such machines.
“The department would allot bar codes for pasting on the VPL/VPP articles to the bulk mailers. This bar code was used for tracking the movement of the booked VPL/VPP articles,” the ED said.
The DOP noticed discrepancies between the dispatched articles and the franking impressions from Prisha Pearls. “The company is found to have affixed fake franking impression slips to consignments without paying the required postage,” the ED said.
ED’s investigation revealed that the company and its directors had under-reported the sales and turnover to conceal the actual parcels sent through the DOP. It allegedly used coloured photocopies of original franking impressions to cover up the fraud, causing the loss to the department, the ED said.
The proceeds of crime were withdrawn in cash to obscure the money trail and deposited into the personal bank accounts of the company’s directors and their family members. The cash was then allegedly layered through multiple banking transactions and integrated into the family-run business of the accused.
Previously, the ED had attached bank balances worth Rs 4.36 crore belonging to the directors and related entities of Prisha Pearls.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by CBI, Hyderabad, against officials of Humayun Nagar sub-post office and others in connection with a criminal conspiracy involving Prisha Pearls. Following this, the CBI filed a chargesheet before the special judge for CBI cases in Hyderabad against the company and its directors.
According to the FIR and chargesheet, the accused fraudulently booked excess articles under value payable letter (VPL) and value payable post (VPP), causing a wrongful loss of Rs 7.6 crore to the department of posts (DOP).
To prevent the misuse of postal stamps, the DOP introduced the ‘remotely managed franking system,’ which involved the use of franking machines to print unique franking impression slips. Prisha Pearls purchased two such machines.
“The department would allot bar codes for pasting on the VPL/VPP articles to the bulk mailers. This bar code was used for tracking the movement of the booked VPL/VPP articles,” the ED said.
The DOP noticed discrepancies between the dispatched articles and the franking impressions from Prisha Pearls. “The company is found to have affixed fake franking impression slips to consignments without paying the required postage,” the ED said.
ED’s investigation revealed that the company and its directors had under-reported the sales and turnover to conceal the actual parcels sent through the DOP. It allegedly used coloured photocopies of original franking impressions to cover up the fraud, causing the loss to the department, the ED said.
The proceeds of crime were withdrawn in cash to obscure the money trail and deposited into the personal bank accounts of the company’s directors and their family members. The cash was then allegedly layered through multiple banking transactions and integrated into the family-run business of the accused.
Previously, the ED had attached bank balances worth Rs 4.36 crore belonging to the directors and related entities of Prisha Pearls.
