Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 29.77 lakh in connection with a money laundering investigation related to fraud under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme in Assam. This investigation was triggered by an FIR at Algapur Police Station against Dr. Nozmul Islam Choudhury, owner of Noble Hospital and Research Centre, for offences under the Indian Penal Code, including cheating and forgery, which are scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED discovered that the hospital fraudulently submitted 920 fake claims totaling Rs 77.83 lakh between February 22, 2019, and November 5, 2022, without providing actual medical treatment. The scheme was manipulated by attracting AB-PMJAY cardholders, wherein patients were photographed in hospital beds to falsely indicate hospitalization, and false treatment records were uploaded to the Transaction Management System (TMS) to secure reimbursements for costs that never occurred. A total of Rs 69.42 lakh was disbursed to the hospital’s accounts at Canara Bank after TDS due deductions. The investigation traced the illicit funds, revealing they were laundered through ATM cash withdrawals, personal transfers to the accused’s Axis Bank account, UPI transactions, and further transfers within the accused’s network, including to his brother. This demonstrated a clear intent to obscure the origin of these illicit funds through systematic layering.
Frauds were unveiled following an audit by the Atal Amrit Abhiyan Society, which indicated that many claims from the hospital were fabricated, with outpatients falsely categorized as indoor patients. As a result, Noble Hospital was de-empanelled from the AB-PMJAY on November 21, 2022, leading to an FIR filing. The institution closure in 2023 followed the investigation, which confirmed that the criminal proceeds were quickly dissipated, prompting the ED to attach equivalent properties under PMLA, as the bank accounts linked to the hospital were closed and depleted, lacking directly available proceeds of crime.