J&K HEALTH INSURANCE FRAUD CASE | ED attaches assets worth Rs 36 Cr

Srinagar, Jan 18: Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Thursday provisionally attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 36.57 crore in the case of M/s Reliance General Insurance Pvt Ltd (RGIPL) and M/s Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Private Limited (TRBL) related to the fraudulent awarding of tender of Mediclaim Insurance Policy for the J&K government employees, PSU employees and pensioners fraudulently to M/s Reliance General Insurance Pvt Ltd by Finance Department, J&K, in collusion with M/s Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Limited (Insurance Broker).

Officials said that the ED initiated an investigation based on FIR registered by the CBI, ACB, Srinagar for the commission of offences under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code (Pari-Materia to sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code) and JKPC (Pari-Materia to sections 13(1) (d) read with 13(2) of PC Act), based on a complaint filed by the General Administration Department (GAD), Government of J&K against M/s Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Limited, M/s Reliance General Insurance Company Limited, and unknown public servants and private persons.

They said that the ED investigation revealed that the Finance Department, Government of J&K, deliberately awarded the tender for the engagement of an intermediary (insurance broker) for designing and floating the tender for and implementation of the said health scheme for the government employees and pensioners of J&K by dubious selection and shortlisting process to M/s TRBL without holding the essential eligibility criteria.

Moreover, the ED officials said that the tender for engagement of IRDAI registered insurance company was awarded through M/s TRBL to the said insurance company which was already blacklisted by the Government of Chhattisgarh by modification and deletion of essential eligibility criteria.

This was even though the said company had less presence in J&K state and bare minimum experience, as per the requirement of the said tender, during the stipulated period.

In this way, an amount of Rs 63.53 crore was fraudulently disbursed to the above companies.

Out of this amount, the medical claims of approximately Rs 17 crore have been disbursed by the M/s RGIPL.

The ED has attached land worth approximately Rs 4.04 crore in the name of M/s Globus Trade Links Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of M/s TRBL and FDRs to the extent of value of Rs 32.53 crore about M/s Reliance General Insurance Pvt Ltd.

The officials said that further investigation is under progress.