The Enforcement Directorate is close to completing investigations into the money trail left behind by the alleged kingpin of the Vyapam scam, Jagdish Sagar, whose 14 properties estimated at many crores have been attached, government sources say.
Sagar, who was allegedly taking money from candidates to get them admission in educational institutions and in government jobs by corrupting the examination process, is in jail, along with his accomplices.
The sources say the directorate has been able to establish his links with the money so made. He deposited the money in fixed accounts in banks and used them as collateral to take loans to buy property. The Indore unit of the Enforcement Directorate has been able to link all such transactions to prove that Sagar had bought property and luxury cars on such loans. About 4.8 hectares of land, Rs. 3.3 crore in cash and jewellery and four luxury cars of Sagar have been attached.
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The agency is now investigating transactions of Pankaj Trivedi, Director of Vyapam, and Nitin Mahindra, former Principal System Analyst.
Big players, middlemen targeted
Although a large number of accused in the Vyapam scam are candidates and their parents who paid money for securing jobs and admissions, the Enforcement Directorate is targeting the big players and middlemen at this stage.
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The agency registered a money-laundering case in March 2014 naming 26 main accused, one of them being former State Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma.
Nearly 2,000 people, among them candidates and their parents, have been held in the scam-related cases.