The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the alleged money laundering angle in the schools jobs case, on Thursday told the trial court here that former education minister Partha Chatterjee used the “scam money” to buy properties and floated several benami companies.
A court in Kolkata on Thursday started framing the charges against the accused, totalling 54, in the school jobs scam in West Bengal. The process was delayed after the ED failed to submit all the documents sought by the court.
In its opening statement, the ED’s counsel told the court that Rs 27.9 crore was recovered from the office of a company owned by the TMC leader and his family.
“Several companies were floated by him (Partha Chatterjee) with many directors having no knowledge of it… Chatterjee had huge power and influence and used it to purchase properties,” the ED told the court.
The ED, in its chargesheet, also alleged that the former minister used mobile phones with SIM cards bought in others’ names to collect money from the candidates appearing for the school teachers’ recruitment exams.
Meanwhile, Partha Chatterjee, who was present in the court, filed a petition for discharge from the ED case after getting conditional bail from the Supreme Court earlier this month. Granting him bail from February 1, 2025, the Supreme Court had said “a suspect cannot be held in custody indefinitely and that undertrial incarceration should not amount to punitive detention”.
Chatterjee, who was arrested on July 23, 2022, continues to be in jail in connection with the CBI’s case against him in the jobs ‘scam’.
Meanwhile, the ED on Thursday argued that Partha Chatterjee had close links with the accused and his aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose house the agency claimed to have recovered Rs 50 crore in cash, jewellery, and documents of properties.
The central probe agency said several LIC policies and properties were co-owned by the former minister and his “close aide.” The ED told the court that Arpita Mukherjee allowed her residence and bank accounts to be used for stashing the proceeds of crime.
Last month, the special ED court had granted bail to Arpita Mukherjee, nearly two-and-a-half years after her arrest.
The ED further submitted that TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who was also the chairperson of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education during the period of the alleged scam, was actively involved in the crime, acquiring money for the proceeds of crime. “Manik Bhattacharya used his position to commit the crime. He charged 5,000 per student to add their application in offline mode,” the ED claimed.
According to the ED, Tapash Mondol assisted Manik in the conspiracy, while TMC youth wing leader Kuntal Ghosh had direct access to Partha Chatterjee and Manik Bhattacharya, and was also involved in the scam. “He (Kuntal) used to take money from the candidates through agents… The proceeds of crime were transferred to different bank accounts,” the ED alleged.