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ED raids 8 locations linked to FIITJEE in Delhi-NCR over closure of centres
The Enforcement Directorate raided eight locations in Delhi-NCR related to FIITJEE centres' closure. This follows an FIR by the Delhi Police's EOW.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids at eight locations across Delhi-NCR in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to FIITJEE, a prominent coaching institute. The raids come after the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered a First Information Report (FIR) based on complaints from aggrieved parents.
According to ED officials, the probe is centered around allegations that several FIITJEE centres across the country shut down abruptly without prior notice. Parents, who had paid fees in advance for the full academic year, claimed they were left in the lurch with no communication from the institute regarding the sudden closures.
The parents said they deposited lakhs of rupees as fee but they got no service or refund, they added.
The ED teams also searched the residential premises of key conspirators, including one of the promoters, DK Goel, and a few offices.
Allegations include diversion of funds taken from coaching centres towards personal gains or other entities, said the ED.
Locations in Delhi and neighbouring Noida and Gurugram, including those of the promoters of the coaching institute, are being searched, the officials said.
The action is being undertaken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
FIITJEE provides coaching for competitive examinations to engineering aspirants and has 73 centres across the country.
In March, the EOW of the Delhi Police filed a case against FIITJEE Ltd for allegedly failing to provide the services it promised to students and abruptly ceasing operations mid-January.
FIITJEE Coaching Institute, specifically its east Delhi Centre in Laxmi Nagar, is at the heart of the matter, with 192 complaints against it by students and parents, EOW in a statement said.
"The allegations claimed that the institute engaged in misleading advertisements, exaggerated success claims, and deceptive marketing tactics to attract students and collect substantial course fees," deputy commissioner of police (EOW) Vikram K Porwal said in the statement.
A case was filed under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC against FIITJEE Ltd, its managing director (MD) Dinesh Kumar Goel, and other officials involved in the deceptive practices, it read.
