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CBI books ex-ONGC official, 9 others in Rs 45-L fake medical bill scam in Jorhat

The CBI conducted searches at the residential premises of the accused which led to the recovery of incriminating documents.

By The Assam Tribune
CBI books ex-ONGC official, 9 others in Rs 45-L fake medical bill scam in Jorhat
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Jorhat, June 19: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against a former deputy general manager (medical services) of ONGC, Jorhat, Assam and nine others in a Rs 45 lakh fraud case related to issuance of bogus medical bills, officials said Wednesday.

Accused ex-DGM Bijoy Kumar Shaw and his colleague the then contractual medical officer (occupational health) Eashitva Tamuly and the proprietors of eight empanelled private medical shops have been named in the FIR registered on the basis of a complaint from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, they said.

The agency has alleged that the group operated in collusion between 2019 and 2022 -- a timeframe largely overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic -- to misappropriate funds by fabricating medical documentation, the officials said.

"It was also alleged that the proprietors of eight empanelled medical shops claimed false and bogus bills of Rs 45 lakh raised on the basis of fake requisition slips for issuance of medicines without the knowledge of beneficiaries of ONGC and their dependents," the CBI said in a statement.

The CBI conducted searches at the residential premises of the accused which led to the recovery of incriminating documents, the agency said.

The FIR registered by the agency on the complaint of ONGC Vigilance Department alleged that between 2019 and 2022, the accused medical shops supplied medicines to ONGC and CISF personnel based on slips generated by ONGC's Medical Section in Jorhat, where Shaw was posted.

These slips were created without any legitimate requisition or authorisation from the purported recipients, the FIR alleged.

As part of ONGC's internal vigilance inquiry, high-value medicine credit slips and requisition documents tied to 106 medical beneficiaries were scrutinised.

The beneficiaries were contacted to verify the authenticity of the documents and confirm receipt of medicines.

Out of the 63 individuals who responded, 29 -- 27 retired and two active personnel -- categorically denied ever requesting or receiving the listed medicines and also disowned the signatures attributed to them or their dependents, the FIR said.

The amount linked specifically to these 29 cases was estimated at approximately Rs 5 lakh, the FIR said.

With prima facie indication of a fraud, the department expanded the inquiry with 1,042 bills, of these, 905 beneficiaries responded, and 340 individuals out rightly denied initiating any requisition or receiving the medicines in question. They also disputed the authenticity of the signatures associated with their names, the statement said.

Following the emergence of evidence of systemic fraud, ONGC escalated the matter to the CBI for investigation.


--PTI

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