The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Saturday registered an FIR against unidentified persons in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) worth Rs 20 crore, according to the officials.
According to the ACB, in 2019, the vigilance department of the DJB discovered “serious fraud” and embezzlement of DJB money by the officials/agencies concerned.
“The Vigilance Department, after scrutinising the documents seized from the Revenue Department of DJB, has concluded that the preliminary investigation into the matter reveals embezzlement of DJB funds amounting to Rs 20 crore and above,” an official statement said.
The ACB said that the department would investigate the role of DJB officials and other private players in the alleged embezzlement that it claimed took place between 2012 and 2019.
Detailing the case, the ACB officials said that the DJB had awarded the work of setting up automotive bill payment collection machines at different locations in different DJB offices to Corporation Bank (now Union Bank of India) for a period of three years. It was alleged that the bank involved a private agency for the setting up of kiosks and collection of bills from various locations in the city. The contract is said to have been extended from time to time till the time the alleged fraud was detected, in October 2019. “The matter was immediately brought to the notice of the Bank for recovery of the amount collected from the e-Kiosks, which the Bank had failed to deposit in the bank account of DJB during the above said period, along with penal interest and other liabilities. However, despite protracted deliberations at the senior level all this while, the Bank is apparently reluctant to return the money embezzled by its vendor to cause substantial financial loss to DJB,” the statement said.
