New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 13 crore to Kamal Mehta, former chairman of Jodhpur National University, in connection with an investigation into a money laundering case allegedly related to the issuance of fake degrees. The agency gave this information on Tuesday. “The attached property includes 12 houses, three plots, a building and 31 bighas of agricultural land located in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Delhi and some amount lying in bank accounts,” the ED said in a statement. It said that this case is related to issuing fake degrees and mark sheets. The Jaipur office of the Central Investigation Agency has issued a temporary order in this regard under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the attached assets amount to a total of 12.98 crore. In 2017, the agency attached assets worth Rs 8.53 crore to Mehta and the trust that runs the private university.
The agency started the investigation after Mehta and his associates took cognizance of the FIR and charge sheet filed by the Jaipur Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police. The ED said, “The accused Mehta is the managing trustee of Kushal Education Trust and in 2008 he established Jodhpur National University in Jodhpur.” The agency alleged, “While working as the head of the university, he was active in running a gang of issuing and selling fake degrees and marksheets to students for money.” The ED said that he issued fake authorization letters in the name of the registrar for the purpose of collecting fees, forms and conducting the examination and appointed four national coordinators of the university. It said that under these national coordinators, there are centers and sub-centers at various places in the country. The Enforcement Directorate said, “The appointment of national coordinators and the centers, sub-centers were not approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).”
The agency said that its investigation found that “Mehta had received Rs 22.3 crore from these national coordinators from illegal money. These funds were deposited in various bank accounts opened in the name of Jodhpur National University, Kushal Education Trust and Surya Nagri Education Trust and various other institutions in Jaipur and Jodhpur. ” According to the agency, the accused “set up a parallel office in Jaipur and between 2010 and 2014, more than 25,000 degrees, marksheets were issued to various students.” The ED said that a complex cycle of financial transactions was created through which illegal money was transferred to bank accounts of various entities and movable and immovable properties in the name of Kamal Mehta, his wife Sarita Mehta, Kushal Education Trust and their other companies Invested in
