New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Shimla, has filed two more supplementary prosecution complaints (SPCs) before the Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the multi-crore Himachal Pradesh Scholarship Scam, intensifying action against private educational institutions accused of siphoning off government funds meant for marginalised students.

According to a press release issued on Saturday by the agency, the third supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on August 22, 2025, against ICL Hitech Educational Society, Sanjiv Kumar Prabhakar and other co-accused.

The society operates the ICL Group of Colleges in Haryana and was found to be involved in the offence of money laundering.

The fourth supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on December 17, 2025, against Dev Bhumy Educational Trust, Bhupinder Kumar Sharma, and other co-accused.

The trust was running the Dev Bhumy Group of Institutes in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh.

The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Shimla, which had flagged large-scale irregularities in the disbursement of scholarships by the Directorate of Higher Education (DoHE), Shimla.

The alleged fraud occurred under the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme (PMSS) meant for SC, ST and OBC students of Himachal Pradesh.

Investigations revealed that several private institutes fraudulently claimed scholarship amounts by uploading details of students who were either not enrolled or had discontinued their courses.

To inflate scholarship claims, institutes allegedly manipulated data on the HP-e Pass portal by changing students’ courses, altering caste categories in subsequent years, and falsely declaring day scholars as hostellers.

The ED further found that the proceeds of crime generated through the scam were diverted to acquire movable and immovable properties in the names of the accused and their family members.

Earlier, searches under the PMLA resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents, recovery of around Rs 80 lakh in cash, and freezing of bank balances and fixed deposits worth approximately Rs 3.30 crore.

So far, provisional attachment orders have been issued for assets worth about Rs 30.5 crore, and six persons have been arrested in the case.

The ED said further investigation into the scholarship scam is ongoing.

–IANS

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