The Enforcement Directorate’s Bengaluru Zonal Office has provisionally attached three properties, including one plot and two flats, valued at Rs 19.46 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. These properties belong to trustees of the BMS Educational Trust, linked to an alleged seat-blocking scam in engineering colleges. The ED revealed evidence of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 20.20 crore collected from the sale of engineering seats in colleges under the trust’s control.
Additional evidence seized includes diary notings and WhatsApp chats, confirming the involvement of college staff, management, and agents in the process. The investigation found that the unaccounted cash from seat sales was allegedly used for the personal benefit of the trust’s trustees. The ED’s probe stemmed from FIRs filed by Bengaluru police stations related to the seat-blocking scam and unauthorized cash collections during engineering admissions.
The searches conducted by the ED in June and May 2025 uncovered the alleged collection of unaccounted cash during admissions in engineering colleges. It was found that seats were sold through middlemen and agents, with cash collected directly from students or through educational consultants. The agency also discovered that the cash collected was not reflected in the trust’s accounts, leading to the seizure of Rs 1.86 crore from premises associated with the trust. The investigation into the matter is ongoing.
