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Central investigative agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tightened its grip on revenue embezzlement of crores of rupees in toll tax collection on national highways and major expressways, bypassing of FASTag system and large-scale financial misappropriation. Acting under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), joint teams of ED conducted simultaneous intensive raids at 14 key locations located in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi-NCR. The main focus of this action has been the private consortium companies taking up the contract for toll collection, their corporate offices and the personal residences of key directors. Who is under investigation: Raids in these cities of UP and Maharashtra According to sources in the Enforcement Directorate, this search operation was launched simultaneously under tight security cover of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF): Uttar Pradesh: Searches were conducted at the zonal offices of toll operating companies and promoters' locations located in Lucknow, Kanpur, Noida and Varanasi. The accounts offices of some major toll plazas connected to Purvanchal and Lucknow-Kanpur highway were also under investigation. Maharashtra: Raids were conducted at the headquarters of companies involved in toll management and highway maintenance in Mumbai, Thane and Pune. Important server data and transaction details were accessed from the locations of several senior officials. Delhi-NCR: Investigation teams also seized records at the premises of company auditors and chartered accountants in registered corporate offices located in New Delhi. What is the whole matter: How was fraud being done in toll collection? The action is part of a money laundering investigation initiated on the basis of complaints received from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and state road development corporations and cases (FIRs) filed by the local police. Major modus operandi revealed in the investigation: Off-the-Record Cash Collection: It is alleged that double penalty or cash amount was collected from VIP movement, commercial overloaded vehicles and vehicles without FASTag, which was transferred to parallel accounts without entering it in the official cash ledger or system. Tampering with software and FASTag data: Software loopholes were used in local servers at some toll plazas due to which huge discrepancies were shown between the actual movement of vehicles and the toll tax deducted, so as to understate the fixed royalty to be received by the government exchequer. Money Trail through Shell Companies: Evidence has been found of black money collected from toll collection being diverted to shell entities through fake vendors, sub-contractors and bogus maintenance bills and being diverted to private properties and real estate projects. What was recovered in the raid? During the day-long marathon investigation, ED officials seized a huge amount of incriminating documents and evidence: hard disk data, backup drives and digital log files of the backend servers of the toll plaza. Undisclosed cash worth crores of rupees, gold jewelery and checkbooks and passbooks of several benami bank accounts. Documents to confidential deed and power of attorney to real estate investment. ED officials say that the seized digital devices are being sent to the forensic lab. Summons are being issued to company directors, chief financial officers (CFOs) and toll managers for detailed questioning. The agency believes that as this investigation progresses, the involvement of some local officials and middlemen may also be exposed.