Chennai: The enforcement directorate has begun prosecution proceedings in one of the biggest post office frauds reported in the state where Rs 1.5 crore government money was gobbled up by five employees of a post office in Dindigul district.
“We have attached a property in Vedansandur village in Dindigul, worth over Rs 40 lakh, belonging to Shanmugham, father of Karthika, a woman employee of the post office of the same village,” a enior officer from the enforcement directorate told this newspaper on Thursday.
The fraud surfaced three years ago when it was found that all five employees, including G. Varadarajan, Karthika and three others had colluded in siphoning off Rs 1.5 crore from the government exchequer.
They had manipulated the recurring deposit accounts. “If you deposit Rs 500 every month as a recurring deposit, the staff shows it as Rs 5,500 and supporting documents are also created. At the time of withdrawal, the genuine depositor is given only his due, the rest of the money goes into the pockets of the employees,” explained the ED official when asked about the modus operandi of the five employees who managed to swindle such a huge amount while working in a post office in a small village.
Though the CBI probed the case, they could not track the pattern in parking of the illegal funds.
Our investigation revealed that Shanmugham had purchased property using the money generated by his daughter along with her colleagues, the official said.
