This story is from May 19, 2019

E-tendering scam: EOW looks for Indore trader

Madhya Pradesh economic offences wing (EOW) has begun the hunt for an Indore-based businessman, Mukesh Sharma, in connection with the Rs 80,000 crore e-tendering scam.
E-tendering scam: EOW looks for Indore trader
Representative Photo
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh economic offences wing (EOW) has begun the hunt for an Indore-based businessman, Mukesh Sharma, in connection with the Rs 80,000 crore e-tendering scam.
After two notices to record his statement were ignored, EOW plans to arrest him.
Sources in the agency say Sharma manages the finances of a former minister and had a key role in the scam. He was associated with two companies named in the FIR.
He has not turned up to have his statement recorded despite repeated notices sent to his house, said an officer.
The directors of one firm have secured interim bail from Gujarat high court, and those of another are looking for anticipatory bail. It is believed that these two companies have rented office space in Mannipuram area of Bhopal where they will strategize how to handle the fallout of the e-tender investigations.
Two directors and an employee of the Bhopal-based Osmo IT Solutions and vice-president of Bengaluru-based IT company Antares Systems Ltd (ASL) have been arrested in the case and EOE sources say more are likely.
EOW has detected tampering in more than 170 tenders floated by MPSEDC so far and 270 more tenders are under scrutiny. Three days after income-tax raids on CM Kamal Nath’s close aides triggered a state-Centre confrontation, the Madhya Pradesh government got EOW to register an FIR against “unknown politicians and bureaucrats” in the scam. Officers of five government departments and directors of seven private companies were booked for forgery, IT Act violations and under Prevention of Corruption Act. Five people have been arrested so far. Investigators have cloned servers of Antares for investigation after naming it in the EOW FIR, based on the report of IAS officer Manish Rastogi. Antares managed the software that is alleged to have been manipulated for the scam, say EOW officials.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA