Indore, June 4: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made significant strides in the investigation of a multi-crore fake bill scam involving the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC). On June 1, the ED’s Indore sub-zonal office arrested three main accused: Abhay Singh Rathore, Mohammad Zakir, and Rahul Badera, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The arrested individuals were presented before a special court in Indore, which has remanded them to ED custody until June 5 for further investigation.
The ED initiated its probe based on multiple FIRs filed at the MD Road police station in Indore, citing various provisions of the IPC, 1860. These cases are linked to fraudulent bills, forged work orders, and fictitious records that facilitated the embezzlement of funds from the IMC’s treasury for projects that never took place.
Investigations revealed that between 2018 and 2023, approximately ₹119.53 crore worth of fake and false bills were submitted to the IMC. Payments amounting to around ₹86.54 crore were fraudulently disbursed based on these fictitious bills.
Further inquiries under the PMLA, 2002, indicated that similar fraudulent activities had occurred prior to 2018, resulting in the misappropriation of about ₹6.22 crore of government funds. The total estimated fraud amounts to approximately ₹92.76 crore, classified as ‘proceeds of crime’ under the PMLA, 2002.
The investigation also uncovered that the accused submitted fabricated bills to the IMC, which were later paid to firms under their control. However, these firms did not perform any actual work, causing financial losses to the corporation while benefiting the accused illegally.
Abhay Singh Rathore, who was an assistant engineer at the IMC during this period, emerged as one of the main conspirators. He played a crucial role in preparing and processing the fake work orders. Contractors Mohammad Zakir and Rahul Badera received around ₹71.78 crore from the IMC’s treasury in exchange for these fraudulent bills through their owned and controlled firms.
The accused actively participated in creating, submitting, and processing these fake bills, as well as distributing the fraudulently obtained funds among various beneficiaries involved in the conspiracy. Previously, the ED conducted a search operation under Section 17 of the PMLA, resulting in the seizure of approximately ₹22.04 crore in cash and valuables.
Subsequently, a provisional attachment order under the PMLA, 2002, led to the temporary seizure of real estate worth around ₹34 crore on July 3, 2025. The ED continues its investigation to trace the remaining proceeds of crime, identify additional assets acquired from these funds, and uncover the full extent of the financial transactions involved.
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