7 directors of CG marketing firm held in overtime payment ‘scam’ case

Raipur: In joint action, the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), on Monday, arrested seven directors and representatives of manpower agencies in connection with the alleged Rs 115 crore overtime payment scam in Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), officials said.The arrests were made in a case registered under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018, and BNS sections related to forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy.According to two agencies, the probe found that between 2019-20 and 2023-24, about Rs 115 crore was paid to manpower agencies in the name of overtime. The amount was meant to be paid to workers, but officials said fake and inflated bills were allegedly prepared to siphon off the money.Investigators suspect that instead of reaching employees, a large portion of the amount was distributed as commission among CSMCL officials, private persons and manpower agency operators, while the companies retained a significant share.Those arrested were identified as Neeraj Kumar Chaudhary, financial and tax consultant of Eagle Inter Solutions Ltd and Alert Commands Pvt Ltd; Ajay Lohia, director of Alert Commands Pvt Ltd; Ajit Dandale, director of Sumit Facilities Company; Amit Prabhakar Salunke, director of Sumit Facilities Ltd; Amit Mittal, chairman and director of A to Z Infraservices Ltd; Rajeev Dwivedi, director of Prime One Workforce Pvt Ltd; and Sanjeev Jain, director of Prime One Workforce Pvt Ltd.The FIR was registered after ED's Raipur office, during an earlier raid on Nov 29, 2023, seized Rs 28.80 lakh cash from three persons and shared the information with the state government for further action.The agencies said bills submitted by the manpower agencies allegedly lacked transparency on actual overtime work, attendance of employees and payments made to them. Prima facie, the agency said, government funds were irregularly withdrawn through fake and inflated bills, causing serious financial loss to the state.All seven accused were produced before the special court on Monday and remanded to police custody till May 11. Officials said they will be questioned on fake billing, illegal commission distribution, final use of funds, beneficiaries and the role of other persons linked to the alleged scam.