FIITJEE collected Rs 250 crore from 14,411 students for providing educational services: ED

The case stems from multiple FIRs lodged across Noida, Lucknow, Delhi, Bhopal, and other locations on the complaints of some parents, who had alleged in January that FIITJEE, which primarily prepares engineering students for competitive exams, had shut its centres suddenly, leaving their children in the lurch. The parents have alleged that they deposited lakhs of rupees as fees but did not receive any service or refund, an officer said.

On March 24, multiple ED teams conducted raids at seven premises of FIITJEE in Delhi-NCR, which had recently shut down its centres abruptly. “The search operations were carried out at the residences of the Director D K Goel, CEO, COO, and CFO, as well as at the official premises of FIIT-JEE coaching institute,” an ED spokesperson said in a statement. The action is being undertaken under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act.

During the search, several incriminating documents and digital devices were seized, indicating serious financial irregularities. “The collected funds were allegedly diverted for personal and unauthorised use, while faculty salaries remained unpaid. Consequently, 32 coaching centres at Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Noida, Prayagraj, Delhi, Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Faridabad, Gurugram, Mumbai, etc, were abruptly shut down, causing widespread distress to approximately 15,000 students and parents,” the spokesperson said.

A preliminary analysis of the evidence collected during the search action, a spokesperson said, suggests a systematic scheme to siphon off funds, defrauding students and their parents under the guise of educational services. “During the search, Rs 10 lakh cash and jewellery worth around Rs 4.89 crore were seized,” the spokesperson added.

In January, it came to light that FIITJEE had shut down several centres across Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The institute, having 73 centres across the country, has been facing a financial crisis, with staff at many branches resigning en masse.