Lottery scam probe: ED seizes crores from businessman’s house
The Statesman | 16 November 2024
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the office of a lottery company owner’s office-cum-residence and discovered around Rs 3 crore during a 33-hour raid at Lake Market area. A huge team of the ED, including central armed forces surrounded the Lake Mall areas and unearthed a large amount of unaccounted money.
ED officials entered the office near Lake Mall in South Kolkata with money-counting machines. According to sources, total amount could exceed Rs 3 crore. However, no official statement has been issued by the ED regarding this matter yet. Since Thursday morning, Delhi-based officials have been conducting continuous raids at the offices of the lottery company and the residences of its officials in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas. On Thursday, ED officials reached the flat of a senior official of the company in Lake Gardens. Following his questioning, the investigators arrived at the company’s office on Prince Gulam Shah Road near Lake Mall on Friday. Sources reveal that cash was recovered there, after which money-counting machines were brought in. The ED had launched an investigation into financial irregularities in the lottery system in 2023. At that time, the names of several individuals came up. Allegations suggest that, under the patronage of influential individuals, money was laundered through the lottery system and transferred to various accounts.
As part of this investigation, the ED has been conducting raids at various locations across Kolkata over the past 33 hours. The ED has been investigating the case for weeks in South India. The Kolkata connection has emerged from that formula. Search is going on in the joint operation of Delhi and Kolkata teams. According to sources, several lottery businesses were running under Fortune Gaming Company. Investigating whether there is a larger conspiracy. Unsold tickets worth several thousand crores are being recovered. According to ED sources, prizes were declared among these unsold tickets. Unsold tickets were shown as sold. Actually the person receiving the award is the person of that organisation. That money would have remained in their company.
In Madhyamgram, the focus of the search was a building in Micheal Nagar, which was believed to serve as both an office and a warehouse for the alleged lottery operation. While several crucial documents were seized from the location, officials stated that the financial details of the operation were still being investigated, and they could not yet confirm the exact amount of money found there. “The search is ongoing. We have seized several documents, but we cannot disclose the details of the money seized at this time,” an ED official said. The ED’s recent actions follow a series of nationwide search operations in several states, including West Bengal, Sikkim, and Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu, the agency had earlier attached assets worth over Rs 277 crore as part of the investigation into the same scam.