The clerk accused in the massive lottery fund scam says he had to burn ₹6 crore in old notes after thedemonetisation hit. He then switched to transferring the money to multiple bank accounts.
Thiruvananthapuram: In a wild twist to the Kerala Lottery Welfare Fund Board scam, the main accused has dropped a bombshell. A clerk named Sangeeth has told the Vigilance department that he burned currency notes worth a whopping ₹6 crore.
He claims the cash was in old ₹500 and ₹1000 notes, which he had siphoned from the welfare fund. When the 2016 demonetisation was announced, the money became useless. So, in 2017, he allegedly stuffed the cash into an incinerator at his home in Pongumoodu and set it on fire. A Vigilance team, along with forensic experts, has now inspected the house.
Investigators believe Sangeeth actually stole a total of ₹16 crore. After demonetisation, he changed his strategy and started moving the welfare fund's money into several different bank accounts.
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The money, which was contributions from lottery workers, was illegally transferred to his personal account and the account of his friend, Anil Kumar. Sangeeth allegedly forged the signatures of senior officials to approve these transfers. This scam went on until 2021.
Between 2012 and 2016, Sangeeth simply withdrew the stolen money as cash from banks. He had never explained what he did with this cash pile, until now. After burning the old notes in 2017, he started directly transferring the stolen funds to the accounts of his friend Anil Kumar, a contractor, and Anil's brother, Sampath.
He used the stolen money to go on a property-buying spree. He made 45 property registrations in the Kazhakootam sub-registrar office alone. He bought land worth crores in Kazhakootam and Chackai and owns three houses in the state capital. The second accused, Anil Kumar, also made crores from the scam.
Vigilance officials, led by Inspector Anoop, have already frozen 35 properties bought by the accused. Anil Kumar's Fortuner SUV has also been seized.
Based on Sangeeth's confession, the forensic team conducted a search. However, since so many years have passed, they say it's unlikely they'll find any scientific evidence of the burned notes.
