ED raids man posing as agency official and running IAS coaching centre

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said Thursday it has conducted searches against a man allegedly posing as an IRS officer working in the agency and running an IAS and IPS coaching centre.

It said the raids were undertaken in Delhi on Wednesday in connection with an investigation against Manoj Kumar, who is also charged with cheating people by claiming to be an ED officer.

The money laundering case stems from a Delhi Police FIR against Kumar, who "impersonated" an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 2017 batch and claimed that he was currently posted as an additional director with the ED, the federal anti-money laundering probe agency said.

"It is alleged that he (Kumar) would show letters of the ED along with official logo and seal with his name to convince people that he is genuinely an ED officer.

"Thereafter, he would ask money from such people and cheat them," the agency said in a statement.

Kumar, the ED said, claimed to be running an IAS-IPS exam coaching centre and hosted the "fake" website www.manojias.com.

The website claims that Kumar's coaching centre is one of the leading institutes for IAS-IPS exams, the agency said.

The accused has been "representing" himself as an officer of the ED and other government departments, it claimed.

Fake ID cards of the ED and other government departments, forged documents of the agency, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized during the searches, the agency added.

It said the accused was found operating five mobile numbers.