ED arrests 2 in MP e-tendering money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two people in Bhopal on money laundering charges in the alleged over Rs 3,000 crore e-tender rigging racket of Madhya Pradesh. The two have been sent to judicial custody till February 3 by a court. According to the agency ."They are accused in the money laundering investigation into the e-tender scam in Madhya Pradesh." In this case, large number of infrastructure companies, mostly based in Hyderabad, conspired with few senior government officials and IT service providers of MPSEDC (Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd) to tamper e-tenders and to illegally obtain large value contracts, the ED statement claimed on Wednesday.

The money laundering case stems from an April, 2019 FIR filed by the state police economic offences wing (EOW) where Max Mantena, Micro JV Hyderabad, GVPR Engineers Limited Hyderabad among others were named as the "main" beneficiaries of the alleged scam. This police case was filed when the Congress government under chief minister Kamal Nath was in power in the state. The ED had also raided more than 20 premises of the accused and others linked to the case in Hyderabad, Bhopal and Bengaluru early this month and seized some digital devices and recorded the statements of some people.The ED said there are "large number" of other tenders which are also under scrutiny and are "suspected" to have been won by using the same modus operandi.