ED Files Case, Carries Out Searches in 2017 TN Polytechnic Teacher Hiring 'Fraud'

The raids were conducted on June 23 in Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED probe stems from a Tamil Nadu Police FIR alleging that during post-examination scanning at the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB), certain persons digitally altered scanned images and inflated the marks of select candidates against the final answer key.

The accused arranged an extra set of 385 secondary OMR sheets bearing the names of the same select candidates, and as a result, 262 "undeserving" candidates were shown as qualified for the post of Polytechnic Lecturer, the ED said.

The act surfaced after public petitions led to a revaluation and withdrawal of the result.

The police filed two chargesheets as part of the probe in 2021 and 2023, it said.

The ED, in its probe, found that the accused, led by V Subramanian and his associate Suresh Paul, with assistance from the technical staff of a company, Datatec, "tampered" with the examination process in 2017.

Through a network of agents and middlemen, the agency said, the accused contacted willing candidates and collected Rs 14-16 lakh in cash.

The cash was routed through mule accounts and proxy firms, such as Trust Enterprises, Wisdom Enterprises, and Suriyam Enterprises, as well as the accounts of associates and family members, before being converted into immovable properties and jewellery, the ED claimed.

It said Rs 13.18 lakh was seized during the searches, while 56 bank accounts and 2 demat accounts were frozen.