The Madhya Pradesh Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is investigating an alleged Rs 10.99-crore procurement fraud in the Social Justice and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department. An FIR alleges that four firms were deliberately presented as independent competitors in a GeM tender even though they were actually controlled by the same person, while old and allegedly substandard computers and UPS units were supplied to the government at inflated prices.

According to the FIR, the complaints alleged irregularities in the department’s 2024 purchase of computers, printers and UPS equipment. The procurement was valued at approximately Rs 10.99 crore. Attempts to reach out the social justice department were unsuccessful.

The investigators claimed that four private firms were used to create “fabricated competition” in the tendering process, and named four “proprietors” – Randhir Kumar Patel, Hemlata Patel, Ashok Kumar Singh, and Devendra Singh. The accused persons have yet to respond to the allegations.

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The FIR says the four firms were “in fact firms controlled by the same person, non-applicant Randhir Kumar Patel, and operated from the same address”. It alleges they “in a planned manner, committed collusion in the tender by creating fabricated competition through forgery.” It further alleges that inferior and old material was supplied as new and that higher prices were charged, causing “heavy financial loss to the Government.”

One central strand of the EOW’s investigation concerns the links between the supposedly competing firms. According to the FIR, investigators examined GST records, GeM bid documents, banking information and manufacturer authorisation records. They found that the mobile number recorded in one firm’s GST records and an email address supposedly belonging to another were allegedly both registered with the same company.

The agency also obtained a certified Customer Application Form from Reliance Jio for the mobile number in question. According to the FIR, the document “directly established” that the number was under the personal control of one of the suspects, Randhir Kumar Patel.

“Thus, on the basis of the same address, same mobile number and same email domain, four separate firms were fraudulently set up for misappropriating government money and deliberately committed fraud with the Government,” the FIR alleges, adding that it was found that the four firms were actually under the “direct control of the same person”.

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The EOW has also examined the bidding pattern of the four firms across GeM tenders. According to the FIR, the firms were found to have qualified “alternately” in the same tenders and to have secured contracts in favour of one another. Investigators also found, according to the FIR, an “extremely close pattern” in the rates quoted by the firms.

The EOW alleges that the four accused acted “in agreement with one another” and repeatedly committed forgery “with the intention of fraud and dishonesty.” They did this by presenting firms controlled by the same person as separate entities and using “fabricated competition” to influence the government tender process.

It further alleges that they supplied inferior and used material by representing it as new, committed forgery in financial and MAF documents as well as the EMD cheque, obtained higher rates, and caused “heavy financial loss to the Government” through a planned series of acts of forgery and fraud.

The agency has also questioned a cheque by one of the firms as an earnest money deposit. According to the FIR, the cheque dated October 7, 2024, submitted to the department did not contain an account number. The EOW described this as “proof of a suspicious document” and said it further strengthened its allegation of a planned pattern of forgery and fraud.

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The most significant allegation concerning the computers themselves relates to their installation dates. According to the FIR, screenshots for the installation showed the date July 22, 2024, while the actual purchase date was September 23, 2024.

“This establishes that the non-applicants deliberately supplied old and used equipment by representing it as new and committed open fraud with the Government,” the FIR states.