Bengal School Employment Scandal: ED Documents Highlight Partha Chatterjee as Primary Beneficiary
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Kolkata, Dec 25 (NationPress) The former West Bengal Education Minister and Secretary General of the Trinamool Congress, Partha Chatterjee, along with his close associate Arpita Mukherjee, have been identified as the leading beneficiaries in the total scam worth Rs 151.26 crore related to the cash-for-school job case, as detailed in the latest records by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its fifth supplementary charge sheet.
According to the supplementary charge sheet submitted at a specialized Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata, the total confiscated amount of Rs 151.26 crore includes a significant portion of Rs 103.78 crore attributed to both Chatterjee and Mukherjee.
This confiscation consists of both cash and gold seized, along with attached immovable properties.
The second-largest confiscation amount, as recorded by the ED, is linked to a private corporate entity associated with another primary accused, Sujay Krishna Bhadra, amounting to Rs 7.47 crore.
Additionally, the agency informed the special court that another Rs 2.70 crore, related to the same corporate entity, is currently undergoing the confiscation process.
Other significant beneficiaries identified in the case include private promoter Ayan Shil and suspended youth leaders from the Trinamool Congress, Kuntal Ghosh and Shantanu Bandopadhyay, with a combined confiscation amount of Rs 15.03 crore.
Subsequent charge sheets from the ED in this job scam have named a total of 54 individuals, with 29 being individuals and 24 being corporate entities or trusts. These trusts were primarily utilized to channel the proceeds of the scam under the guise of donations.
Among these, the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after the late wife of Partha Chatterjee, is notably mentioned by the ED. Additionally, Chatterjee’s son-in-law, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, has also been implicated as an accused in the case.
