Vyapam scam: ED files first charge sheet against mastermind, board officials

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a charge sheet in the Vyapam scam case of Madhya Pradesh against alleged mastermind Dr Jagdish Sagar, two officials of the exam board and others under the anti-money laundering law, officials said.

Apart from middleman Sagar, Dr Vinod Bhandari who is the ex-chairman of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), and Vyapam officials Dr Pankaj Trivedi and Nitin Mohindra have been named as accused in the 2,505-page prosecution complaint filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here, the agency said.

This is ED's first charge sheet in this case and a supplementary compliant could be filed in future as investigation is continuing, a senior official said.

The agency said its investigation revealed that "racketeers like Sagar and Bhandari along with Trivedi and Mohindra among others criminally connived with each other to secure admission of candidates appearing in PMT (pre medical test) and pre-PG to be conducted by Vyapam by using unfair means, in lieu of money".  "The money thus received from students, which is nothing but proceeds of crime (of money laundering), was shared amongst the four and others," it said in a statement.

"Investigation has clearly revealed that Sagar and Bhandari have illegally acquired money by resorting to malpractices in the PMT-2012, pre-PG examination-2012, PMT-2013 and had deposited the illegal earnings in the regular banking channels and acquired various properties," the agency alleged.

The central probe agency's zonal office here had registered a criminal FIR in March 2014 to probe alleged financial irregularities and laundering instances in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam, also called VYAPAM (Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal) in Hindi, pertaining to admission of candidates and students in professional courses and state services in alleged connivance with officials and politicians.

The agency had named former state Higher Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma and 27 others in its FIR registered after taking cognisance of a clutch of about 10 FIRs of the Special Task Force of the state.

It has attached assets worth ₹13.95 crore in this case till now. The CBI is also probing the case.