ED carries out searches in ₹205-cr cheating case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches in Mumbai and Kerala linked to a firm and its proprietor in a money-laundering investigation related to fraudulent collection of money from emigrants. The accused allegedly recruited nurses for the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, using a license fraudulently obtained from the Indian government, making a total of ₹205.71 crore. Several bank accounts with ₹76 lakh and documents of immovable properties worth ₹12 crore were seized.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at several Mumbai and Kerala premises linked to a firm and its proprietor as part of its money-laundering investigation into a case related to the fraudulent collection of crores of rupees from emigrants.

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The accused were involved in the alleged recruitment of nurses for the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, by using a license fraudulently obtained from the Government of India. The searches were carried out by multiple teams of the agency on Thursday and Friday, agency sources said.

The searches were conducted at the residential premises of Puthenveettil Joseph Mathew alias P J Mathew, proprietor of a Mumbai-based firm, Mathew International, and multiple other business and residential premises located in Mumbai and Kerala.

The accused had allegedly recruited nurses in Cochin by collecting exorbitant service charges of around ₹20 lakh from each of the candidates as against the maximum prescribed limit of ₹20,000, an ED source said. P J Mathew and his associates thereby allegedly made ₹205.71 crore.

The ED’ s investigation revealed that in 2015, Mathew, along with his son Thomas Mathew alias Tom Mathew, allegedly hatched a criminal conspiracy with Mahmood Naina Prabhu, the proprietor of another Mumbai-based firm, Munavarra Associates, to recruit nurses for the Ministry of Health, Kuwait, by using a license fraudulently obtained by Munavarra Associates from the Indian government.

“Subsequently, P J Mathew obtained the demand letters and authorisation letters from two Kuwait-based firms, Jezan International and Al-Amar Company, in the name of Munavvara Associates, Mumbai, for recruitment of nurses for the Ministry of Health, Kuwait,” said an ED source. “L Adolphus, the then Protector of Emigrants, Cochin, had also joined the conspiracy.”

During the searches, the ED found several bank accounts with a cumulative balance of ₹76 lakh, which were immediately frozen. Documents of immovable properties, with an estimated total market value of ₹12 crore, were seized as well. The ED had initiated its money-laundering investigation on the basis of a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Cochin against P J Mathew and others.