The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) in the Rs 12.6 crore medical equipment and medicine scam case reported from Patna Medical College and Hospital during 2008-2010.

In the ECIR, the ED has charged 15 persons, including PMCH superintendent O.P. Chaudhary, deputy superintendent Ganesh Prasad and head of nephrology department Vinod Kumar Singh for alleged involvement in the scam. "It is actually a case of embezzlement in which two drug inspectors - Vikas Shiromani and Ashok Yadav - and a few clerks, employees and suppliers of medical equipment and medicines are suspected to be involved," an ED official said.

The accused, he said, collaborated to purchase various medical gadgets and medicines at prices higher than the maximum retail price(MRP) and in larger quantity than required. "It caused a loss of Rs 12.6 crore to the state exchequer during 2008-09 and 2009-10," the official said.

The ECIR has charged the accused under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Further investigation will be conducted and the ED might confiscate their property. The state Vigilance Investigation Bureau took up the case in 2013, investigated it and filed a chargesheet in 2016. Some of the accused were arrested and jailed but are now out on bail. A couple of cases with regard to the scam have also been filed in the Patna High Court.

Vigilance sources said irregularities were found at every level in the purchase of equipment and medicines in which the PMCH administration and drug inspectors purportedly played an important role. The scam also spread to distribution of drugs to patients at the hospital.

With ED entering the picture, both the agencies will now investigate the case separately. A source said that names of a few politicians could figure in the case. Any money laundering (turning ill-gotten wealth or black money into white by infusing it into the financial system through various means) will also be investigated.