Assets Worth Rs 3.46 Crore Of Sub-Postmaster Attached In Money Laundering Probe

A land parcel and bank balances worth Rs 3.46 crore of a sub-postmaster in West Bengal have been attached as part of a money-laundering probe against him for allegedly claiming investors' deposits by forging their signatures, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday.

A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching the properties of Lakshman Hembram.

Hembram is a sub-postmaster in the postal department of West Bengal. The ED's case stems from an FIR registered at the Moyna police station in Purba Medinipur district.

The ED said Hembram used to effect premature or final closure of term-deposit accounts apparently by "forging" signatures of the account holders and transfer the amount or maturity proceeds of those accounts to the saving accounts of the same account holders without their knowledge.

"Thereafter, he used to siphon off the said amount from their savings accounts by way of fraudulent withdrawals again apparently by forging signatures of the account holders.

"The instances of withdrawals of amounts exclusively from savings bank accounts of the depositors and term deposit were observed without knowledge of the account holders as none of these withdrawals found mention in the relevant passbooks of the depositors," the federal agency said in a statement.

These withdrawn amounts, to the tune of Rs 4.12 crore, were used by the accused to purchase movable and immovable assets and for personal use and are proceeds of crime according to the PMLA, it said.

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