In connection with the West Bengal primary teachers recruitment scam, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has temporarily seized moveable property worth Rs. 7.93 crores in the form of bank balances in 61 accounts and mutual funds that belonged to Manik Bhattacharya, a TMC legislator.
Manik Bhattacharya and his family members persuaded friends and family members to register a number of connected bank accounts in their names so that they could escape being discovered by law enforcement. One such account used for money laundering was discovered to be in the name of Smt. Satarupa Bhattacharya without the Late Shri Mrityunjay Chatterjee and Shri Manik Bhattacharya, both of whom had gone away in 2016.
Manik Bhattacharya, MLA, TMC, and the former president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, was previously detained by the ED in connection with the West Bengal Teachers Recruitment Scam on October 10, 2022, as a result of his active and direct involvement in the money laundering offence and his ongoing lack of cooperation with the PMLA investigation. He continues to be in a judge’s custody.
In this recruiting fraud, the ED has already seized cash totalling Rs. 49.80 crores, gold and jewellery worth more than Rs. 5.08 crore, and properties that are provisionally attached and worth Rs. 48.22 crores. After the most recent attachment, there have been 111 crore rupees in seizures and attachments overall. Additional investigation is being conducted.
