New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said that it attached properties worth Rs 97.18 lakh belonging to the wife of the then Project Director of Uttar Pradesh's District Rural Development Authority in Balrampur and a private supplier in connection with MGNREGA scam.

The ED said that it attached the properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The attached properties are in the form of six agricultural lands and one house valued at Rs 77.82 lakh in the name of Sukhrani, wife of Bhagwati Prasad Verma, the then Project Director in Balrampur and two plots valued at Rs 19.36 lakh in the name of private supplier Athar Parvez.

"All the properties were acquired during or after the period of the scam and all payments were made in cash, the source of the which could not be explained," the ED said.

The ED case is based on the FIR registered by CBI against government officials and private suppliers in compliance of order of Allahabad High Court on January 31, 2014.

The CBI had identified Rs 1.81 crore as proceeds of crime in the matter.

"ED probe revealed that government officials in connivance with private suppliers committed large scale financial irregularities and siphoned off huge amount of government money for substandard or no goods supplied during procurement of goods required for implementation of MGNREGA scheme in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh. Thus, their actions resulted into embezzlement of crores of government money," the ED added.