The Enforcement Directorate struck hard against a shadowy financial empire in Manipur, freezing ₹50.80 crore in assets connected to alleged separatist funding. The Sलाई Group and affiliate Smart Society, along with linked firms, saw their bank deposits, lands, factories, and businesses—including rice and flour mills, oil refineries, mushroom units, emu and fish farms, and gym setups—provisionally attached under the third order.
Triggered by a Manipur Police FIR naming Yambem Biren and Narenbam Samrajeet for secessionist plots involving war against India, sedition, and hate-mongering, the case escalated with NIA’s chargesheet. It exposed a fraudulent scheme luring depositors with 36% returns, illegally amassing funds without licenses, then laundering them via 19 group companies for unlawful uses like insurgency support.
Sलाई Financial Services abused its money-lending registration to run unregulated public deposits, bypassing RBI norms and operating like shadow banks. Laundered cash bought assets, covered imports, taxes, travels, and cash extractions. CBI’s 2023 FIR and November 2024 chargesheet confirmed ₹46.43 crore Ponzi fraud.
ED’s earlier freezes on select accounts held up in adjudication, paving way for court complaints. Now, with 28 fixed and 5 movable properties nailed, cumulative attachments hit ₹53.22 crore. This operation underscores ED’s resolve to dismantle terror-financing networks, with further revelations expected.