Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The ongoing investigation into the alleged jobs-for-cash racket in Goa has taken a dramatic turn, with the main accused, Pooja Naik, alleging that a Cabinet minister, an IAS officer, and a Public Works Department (PWD) engineer were key beneficiaries of the scam.
In an interview to a local television channel on Friday, Naik claimed that the scam involved payments exceeding ₹17 crore, collected from more than 600 job seekers who were promised government appointments. She alleged that the money was paid in cash to senior officials and intermediaries operating from offices in Porvorim and even at the Goa Secretariat.
According to Naik, the purported transactions occurred between 2019 and 2021, a period when ₹2,000 denomination notes were still in circulation. She claimed that she was instructed to hand over payments mostly in ₹2,000 notes, although ₹500 notes were also accepted.
Naik further said that she had been told about vacancies in several government departments, each post having a “fixed rate.” Her role, she said, was to collect applications and corresponding amounts from aspirants, with assurances that appointments would follow.
Admitting to having received a commission for coordinating the deals, Naik said none of the candidates eventually secured jobs. “I am now returning the money to applicants in whatever way I can, because those who took the cash have refused to return it,” she said.
She claimed to have named the IAS officer and PWD engineer involved, while cautioning that she would reveal the minister’s identity if the money was not repaid within 24 hours. Naik appealed to Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, and the local MLA to intervene and help recover the money allegedly misappropriated.
The jobs-for-cash case surfaced over a year and a half ago and has since remained under investigation. Naik’s latest allegations are expected to intensify pressure on authorities to reopen or accelerate the probe.
