ED Investigates Education Sector Scams Worth ₹4,000 Crore, Seizes Assets, Makes Multiple Arrests

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ED Investigates Education Sector Scams Worth ₹4,000 Crore, Seizes Assets, Makes Multiple Arrests | AirNews

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating alleged scams worth nearly ₹4,000 crore in the education sector, spanning paper leaks, fake admissions, scholarship fraud, fake degree rackets, and recruitment irregularities across several states. The agency has attached assets worth ₹1,500 crore and arrested multiple accused, including former ministers, MLAs, and institutional heads.

Investigations include the Al-Falah Group case, where ED re-arrested chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui in connection with forged land acquisition documents in Delhi and money laundering linked to Al-Falah University and its charitable trust. The agency has filed a prosecution complaint after attaching 54 acres of land and buildings worth ₹139.97 crore, with total alleged proceeds of crime quantified at ₹493.24 crore. The university is accused of misrepresenting expired NAAC accreditations and falsely claiming UGC recognition under Section 12(B).

In West Bengal, the ED has attached ₹151.26 crore in the primary teachers’ recruitment scam, arresting former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee. In a separate assistant teacher hiring scam, ₹238.8 crore in assets were frozen, with arrests including Santi Prasad Sinha and MLA Jiban Krishna Saha. The Supreme Court on April 3, 2025, upheld the cancellation of 25,000 appointments. A third case involving Group C and D staff recruitment saw attachments of ₹247 crore.

The ED is also probing the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, with searches conducted in Ranchi, Patna, and Nalanda. Accused Sanjeev Mukhiya and associates allegedly accessed printing presses and tampered with sealed exam material en route to centres, later selling papers via encrypted platforms. Similar cases include the 2022 Rajasthan Senior Teacher exam leak and a ₹387 crore fake degree racket at Manav Bharti University in Himachal Pradesh.

Scholarship frauds have been uncovered in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, where private institutions created ghost students and forged records to claim funds. In Karnataka’s Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, ₹33.34 crore in PG stipends were allegedly misused. The ED has attached ₹5.87 crore in assets and seized properties worth ₹85 lakh. Investigations are ongoing, with court hearings and asset confiscation proceedings scheduled across multiple jurisdictions.