Hyderabad: The Special Court (PMLA), Hyderabad, has taken cognisance of the Prosecution Complaint (PC) filed against Prisha Pearls (India), its directors Nilesh Kumar Agarwal and Sailesh Kumar Agarwal, Ghanshyamdas Jewellers, Agravanshi Agro Farms LLP, and Gajanand Agarwal under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The court acknowledged the PC on March 1, 2025.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the CBI, ACB, Hyderabad, against officials of Humayunnagar sub-post office and unknown others, in connection with a criminal conspiracy involving Prisha Pearls Private Limited.
Following this, the CBI filed a chargesheet before the special judge for CBI cases, Hyderabad, against Prisha Pearls Pvt Ltd and its directors. According to the FIR and chargesheet, the accused fraudulently booked excess articles under the Value Payable Letter/Value Payable Post (VPL/VPP) system, causing a wrongful loss of Rs 7.66 crore to the postal department.
Postal fraud through fake franking impressions
To prevent misuse of postal stamps, the Department of Post introduced the ‘Remotely Managed Franking System’ and set up standard operating procedures for the use of Remotely Managed Franking Machines. These machines generated ‘Franking Impression Slips’ with unique item numbers in chronological order to track the number of franks used. Prisha Pearls purchased two such machines.
Bulk mailers were allotted barcodes by the Postal Department for tracking VPL/VPP articles. However, a discrepancy was noticed between the number of dispatched articles and the postal impressions franked by Prisha Pearls. The company allegedly affixed fake Franking Impression Slips created by them, without making actual payments for postage.
The ED investigation revealed that Prisha Pearls and its directors significantly under-reported the company’s sales and turnover to conceal the actual number of parcels dispatched. Fake coloured photocopies of original franked impressions were used, resulting in a Rs 7.66 crore loss to the Postal Department.
The proceeds of crime were allegedly withdrawn in cash to obscure the money trail. The withdrawn cash was then deposited into the personal bank accounts of the company’s directors and their family members. These funds were layered through multiple banking transactions and integrated into the accused persons’ family-run businesses.
Earlier, the ED had attached bank balances worth Rs 4.36 crore belonging to the directors and related entities of the company.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Syeda Faiza Kirmani | 
