Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached Rs 3.83 crore under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, from two bank accounts allegedly belonging to firms accused of cheating the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs.

According to an ED press statement issued on Monday, investigations into the forgery and cheating case registered by the State police led the ED sleuths to the two accounts belonging to a trading corporation and another private bank account of a car dealer in Kalyan Nagar, Pune.

According to the ED, the Karnataka State Board of Wakfs, Bengaluru, had issued two cheques of Rs.4 crore for investing in fixed deposits based on a letter claiming to be from the bank manager of a private bank in Chickballapur. However, after no fixed-deposit receipt was received from the bank, the board learnt that the money had been transferred to the accounts of the trading corporation.

The cheques issued by the board had been encashed and Rs 4 crore was transferred to a realty firm on the same day, maintained by a private bank based in Edapally, Kochi.

Further investigations revealed that the realty firm had purchased a high-end car by paying Rs 1.1 crore to the car dealer in Pune, who had in turn deposited the money in the Edapally bank, and later into an account in Pune.

The balance amount of Rs. 2.73 crore, still available in the Edapally branch, was put back into the account of the trading corporation in Chickballapur.

The ED then attached provisionally Rs 2.73 crore and Rs 1.1 crore lying with the Pune-based bank.