Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate conducted extensive search operations across 14 locations in Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula on Tuesday as part of an ongoing money laundering probe into the alleged siphoning of Rs 645 crore in public funds. The embezzled government money belonged to several state bodies, including the Haryana government, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, and related public accounts.
The searches were carried out by the ED’s Chandigarh Zonal Office-II under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, stemming from a primary case registered by the Haryana Police in February 2026. The original investigation was launched after major discrepancies and fund diversions were flagged in official accounts held by the Development and Panchayat Department of Haryana with IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank.
Federal investigators targeted multiple prominent jewellery establishments and linked entities during the coordinated crackdown. Establishments searched included Malik Jewellers, KLG Jewels and its associates, MB Gold Traders, Sham Jewellers, and Sunder Jewellers. Premises belonging to an alleged middleman, Gourav Kansal, were also searched for his suspected involvement in routing, concealing, and layering illicit proceeds.
According to investigators, the diverted funds were funnelled through various jewellery businesses and disguised as genuine commercial transactions. These operations were allegedly carried out in complicity with key accused figures to wash the proceeds of crime and integrate them back into the formal banking system as legitimate capital. The agency uncovered evidence indicating that portions of these laundered funds eventually reached accused senior Haryana-cadre bureaucratic officials and public servants implicated in the banking scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has also filed a third chargesheet before the Special Court in Panchkula, naming six Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service officers alongside other government personnel. In previous actions linked to the investigation, the ED arrested four suspects, attached and froze assets valued at roughly Rs 211 crore, and submitted a formal prosecution complaint against 14 individuals before the special PMLA court
