The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached 11 immovable properties worth Rs 10.63 crore in Srinagar and Bandipora districts in a money-laundering investigation into the alleged misuse of the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the agency said on Monday.
The properties comprise land and buildings allegedly held by suppliers-cum-brokers and officials of J&K Bank who were involved in the alleged misuse of the scheme, according to the ED. The attachment has been made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The investigation followed two First Information Reports registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation in Srinagar. The agencies alleged that loans sanctioned under the PMEGP were misappropriated through a criminal conspiracy involving borrowers, bank officials and other unidentified individuals.
According to the ED, the alleged scheme involved using dummy borrowers and fake invoices issued by non-existent firms and companies to obtain PMEGP loans. Private individuals-cum-brokers allegedly acted in coordination with J&K Bank officials in the process.
The PMEGP is a government-backed programme intended to support self-employment and employment-generating ventures by providing financial assistance through participating banks. The allegations in the Srinagar case concern the use of purported beneficiaries and suppliers to access loans that were not linked to genuine business activity, based on the findings cited by the ED.
The agency said its investigation found that 270 term-loan accounts and 270 working-capital accounts connected to the PMEGP had turned into non-performing assets. The outstanding amount associated with these non-performing accounts was estimated at around Rs 32 crore.
The alleged irregularities therefore extend beyond the properties attached in the latest action. The account-level findings point to a wider breakdown involving borrower identification, invoice verification, bank-level scrutiny and monitoring of loans issued under a public employment programme. The ED’s account does not establish the guilt of every person or entity named in the investigation, and the allegations remain subject to proceedings under the law.
The CBI and the Anti-Corruption Bureau also registered a fresh First Information Report in June 2026 in connection with the matter. The ED said the provisional attachment order covered assets located in Srinagar and Bandipora and was issued during the course of its investigation into the alleged proceeds linked to the loan irregularities.
The next steps in the case will involve proceedings under the PMLA and continued investigation by the agencies into the borrowers, brokers, bank officials, firms and assets connected to the alleged loan network.
