ED links Abhishek Banerjee’s company to primary recruitment scam in supplementary chargesheet

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed its fifth supplementary chargesheet in the primary recruitment scam, accusing Lips and Bounds, a company linked to Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, of facilitating money laundering. The agency alleges that the company acted as a conduit for laundering funds through a hawala-like system that used torn currency notes as "tokens" for transactions.

According to the chargesheet, money collected from candidates involved in the recruitment scam was laundered and deposited into Lips and Bounds’ accounts. The process reportedly involved tearing Rs. 10 notes into two halves, with each party retaining one half as a token. These halves were later matched by serial numbers during the final transaction, mimicking traditional hawala operations.

The ED has also highlighted the involvement of several individuals in the scam. Harshvardhan Koyan, the director of Koyan Securities Private Limited, disclosed details about the token system during his interrogation. He was reportedly introduced to Lips and Bounds by Mohit Agarwal, who has been described as a middleman in the laundering operation.

Ganesh Saw and Mukesh Agarwal have also been named as key operatives responsible for collecting cash from the Dalhousie area of Kolkata. The serial numbers of the torn notes were communicated via mobile devices to facilitate transactions, which were completed by matching the pieces during cash exchanges.

The investigation further uncovered the roles of Pankaj Agarwal, who linked Harshvardhan's company to Mohit Agarwal, and Satyendra Kumar Jhunjhunwala and Sujaykrishna Bhadra, who were also associated with Lips and Bounds. Sujaykrishna, popularly known as “Kalighat Kaka,” served as the company’s Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2012 to 2016 and reportedly maintained frequent contact with Manik Bhattacharya, the former chairman of the Primary Education Board.

In 2023, Sujaykrishna was arrested, and crucial documents were seized during raids on his properties. The ED alleges that Lips and Bounds’ accounts were used to channel proceeds from the scam for other suspicious activities, further implicating the company in the laundering network.

The chargesheet emphasizes the financial transactions linked to Lips and Bounds and their direct connection to the recruitment scam. The ED has pointed to suspicious cash transfers and meetings between key individuals as critical pieces of evidence.