ed-raids-congress-mla-r-s-bali-in-ayushman-bharat-fraud

Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on 19 locations across Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Punjab on Wednesday. The raids targeted the premises of Congress MLA R S Bali, private hospitals, and their promoters, as part of a money laundering probe linked to the alleged Ayushman Bharat scheme fraud.

 

The locations raided included the premises of MLA R S Bali, who is also the chairman of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. Fortis Hospital in Kangra, promoted by Bali's company Himachal Healthcare Pvt Ltd, was also raided. Additionally, the premises of Balaji Hospital in Kangra and its promoter Rajesh Sharma, a close associate of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, were raided.

 

The money laundering case was filed on July 16, stemming from an FIR registered in January 2023 against Kiran Soni, Una-based Shri Banke Bihari Hospital, and others for generating "fake" AB-PMJAY cards. The ED alleges that medical bills were generated on these fake cards, causing a loss to the exchequer and the public, with estimated proceeds of crime around Rs 25 crore.

 

The investigation has uncovered several irregularities, including the scrapping of 8,937 Ayushman Bharat golden cards in the state for alleged violation of the AB-PMJAY scheme. Additionally, 373 fake Ayushman cards were identified, with claims of Rs 40,68,150 made for reimbursement from the government. The accused hospitals, including Bankey Bihari Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Shri Balaji Hospital, and others, allegedly availed "illegal benefits" under the AB-PMJAY scheme.    

 

The accused hospitals made claims for treatments, surgery, and admissions that were never performed or given to patients. In one instance, a patient named Raksha Devi was denied admission in the hospital, and her package was "dishonestly and illegally" blocked. The accused hospitals were de-empanelled from the Ayushman Bharat scheme for illegal practices and non-compliance of procedures and guidelines.