News Analysis India

Tag: PMLA

  • Money laundering case: Anil Deshmukh’s aides sent in judicial custody till July 20

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special PMLA court here on Tuesday remanded two aides of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in judicial custody tilll July 20 in a money laundering case against the politician, related to charges of bribery of Rs 100 crore.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde on June 26.

    They have been booked under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The duo was produced before special judge SM Bhosle at the end of their ED remand on Tuesday.

    The court remanded them in judicial custody, as sought by the probe agency.

    Earlier, the ED had told court that the two accused played a “very crucial” role in the offence.

    Earlier, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had alleged that Deshmukh, when he was the home minister, had directed dismissed policeman Sachin Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

    The ED’s case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by Singh on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

    The CBI had booked Deshmukh and others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act for “attempt to obtain undue advantage for the improper and dishonest performance of public duty”.

    Deshmukh, who resigned as the state home minister in April this year following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Assets of Ahmed Patel’s son-in-law, Dino Morea, DJ Aqeel attached under PMLA

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached assets of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s son-in-law, actors Dino Morea and Sanjay Khan, and DJ Aqeel in a money laundering case involving Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech group.

    It said a provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the assets of the four people which are worth Rs 8.79 crore.

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    Out of this, the value of attachment of assets for Khan is Rs 3 crore, for Dino Morea it is Rs 1.4 crore, for Aqeel Abdulkhalil Bachooali, popularly known as DJ Aqeel, it is Rs 1.98 crore and for Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui, who is Patel’s son-in-law, it is Rs 2.41 crore, the central probe agency said in a statement.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that Nitin Sandesara and Chetan Sandesara, absconding promoters of the Sterling Biotech group, have “diverted” proceeds of crime to the four people.

    The promoter brothers Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara, Chetan’s wife Dipti Sandesara and Hitesh Patel have been declared fugitive economic offenders by a special court, it said.

    The money-laundering case pertains to the alleged Rs 14,500-crore bank-loan fraud said to have been perpetrated by Sterling Biotech and its main promoters and directors.

  • ED attaches Rs 65.75 crore assets of sugar mill in MSCB scam, links Ajit Pawar to money laundering case

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday attached properties worth over Rs 65 crore of a sugar mill linked to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

    The action was taken under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

    ED said in a statement that it has attached the properties including land, building and structure and plant and machinery of Jarandeshwar Sahkari Sugar Karkhana at Chimangaon, Koregaon, Satara worth Rs 65,75,00,000 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering in a case related to Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB).

    “The assets are currently held in the name of Guru Commodity Services Pvt. Ltd. and leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd. Sparkling Soil Pvt. Ltd. is holding majority shares of Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd. Investigations revealed that Sparkling Soil Pvt. Ltd. is related company to Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister of State of Maharashtra and Sunetra Ajit Pawar,” the statement said.

    The ED initiated investigations under the PMLA based upon an FIR of August 26 in 2019 registered by the Economic Offence Wing of Mumbai Police under sections IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

    ED said investigations conducted under PMLA revealed that Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank conducted an auction of Jarandeshwar SSK in 2010 “at undervalued price and without following due procedure”.

    “Ajit Pawar was one of the prominent and influential members of Board of Directors of MSCB at the relevant time. The SSK was purchased by Guru Commodity Services Pvt. Ltd. and was immediately leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd., which is presently operating the Jarandeshwar SSK. The major part of the funds utilized towards the purchase of the said SSK was received from Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd. which received the same from Sparkling Soil Pvt. Ltd., a company related to Ajit Pawar and his wife,” the statement said.

    ” Investigations further revealed that though Guru Commodity Services Pvt. Ltd. (a dummy company) was used to acquire the said SSK, the sugar mill was actually controlled and run by Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd. Further, the SSK has been used as a vehicle by Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills for obtaining loan to the tune of Rs 700 crore (approx.) from Pune District Central Co-operative Bank and Ors. during from 2010 till date,” it added.

    The ED said that assets held “in the name of Guru Commodity Services Pvt. Ltd. (leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt. Ltd.) in the form of land, building and structure, plant and machinery of Jarandeshwar SSK, being proceeds of crime, the same has been provisionally attached under PMLA”.

  • ED attaches Rs 6-crore worth land in Bengal illegal coal mining PMLA case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A land parcel worth Rs 6 crore in Kolkata has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an illegal coal mining case in West Bengal, the central agency said on Saturday.

    The case was filed under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the agency after studying a November 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd’s mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

    Local state operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had claimed that the family of Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade.

    Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    The agency issued a statement here to say that the land attached by it is jointly owned by West End Pigments and Chemicals Pvt Ltd and Deshpran Properties Ltd, and it is located at Despran Shasmal Road in Kolkata.

    The ED claimed that probe found “that an advance of Rs 6 crore for the purchase of this property was transferred from the account of LTB Infraconsultants Pvt Ltd.”

    “The source of the said fund was from proceeds of crime which was deposited in cash into the bank accounts of LTB Infraconsultants Pvt Ltd, which is owned by Vinay Mishra and Vikas Mishra,” it alleged.

    Vikas Mishra was arrested in the case earlier by the ED and he is the brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra who is stated to have left the country sometime back and probably has also renounced his Indian citizenship.

    The former inspector in-charge of Bankura police station, Ashok Kumar Mishra, was also arrested by the agency in the case.

    With the latest action, the total attachment of properties in this case stands at Rs 171.86 crore.

    The ED had earlier claimed that the Mishra brothers received “proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in this case involving an estimated amount of Rs 1,352 crore.

    A “deep system” of political patronage and a “well-oiled” machinery was used to brazenly carry out certain unlawful coal minings in West Bengal, the ED has claimed while seeking the remand of Inspector Mishra in April.

    A chargesheet was also filed by the ED in May this year.

  • ED attaches helicopter, 100 land parcels in Mumbai in PMLA case against Unitech group

    By PTI
    NEW DLEHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a helicopter and over 100 land parcels in Mumbai worth a total of Rs 81 crore in connection with a money-laundering probe against realty firm Unitech Group, the agency said on Wednesday.

    It said a provisional order for attachment of these properties owned by the Shivalik Group and its associates has been issued under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The total value of the helicopter, owned by King Rotors Air Charters Pvt Limited, and the 101 land parcels located in Mumbai’s Santa Cruz area is Rs 81.10 crore, the ED said in a statement.

    The action has been taken “in relation to the investigation being conducted against Unitech Group”, the probe agency said.

    While the plots of land are owned by the Shivalik Group, the company that owns the chopper is its associate firm, it said.

    The probe has “revealed that Unitech Group had diverted proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 574 crore to Shivalik Group and, in turn, the entities of Shivalik Group purchased the said land parcels and helicopter from these proceeds of crime,” the ED alleged.

    The Enforcement Directorate, early this year, filed a criminal case under various sections of the PMLA against the Unitech Group and its promoters over allegations that the owners — Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra — illegally diverted over Rs 2,000 crore to Cyprus and Cayman Island.

    The case was booked after the ED studied some FIRs filed by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) against these promoters and the company, including an instance where they allegedly failed to complete a housing project on time in Gurgaon.

    On March 4, the ED also carried out raids at 35 locations of the Shivalik Group, Trikar Group, Unitech Group and Carnoustie Group in Mumbai and at the national capital region after the registration of the case.

    “After analysis of the seized records followed by the disclosures of various persons, the above diversion of proceeds of crime has been unearthed,” it alleged.

    The total attachment in this case now stands at Rs 431 crore as two similar orders were earlier issued that froze assets worth Rs 349.82 crore.

  • More trouble for Anil Deshmukh as ED files case against former Maharashtra Home Minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a criminal case under the anti-money laundering law against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in an alleged “bribery” case, official sources said on Tuesday.

    They said the case registered under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been filed after studying a CBI FIR that was filed against Deshmukh late last month.

    The central probe agency may now summon Deshmukh, 71, for questioning apart from others who have a role in the case, they said.

    The ED case comes about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry, followed by filing a regular case, on the orders of the Bombay High Court that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The agency will probe if illicit funds were generated in the transfer and posting of police personnel in Maharashtra and if illegal extortion was done by the cops as alleged by Singh in his complaint.

    The agency has powers to attach assets of the accused during the investigation stage and later file charge sheets against them before a PMLA court for trial.

    Singh was shunted out from the prime post after the role of policeman Sachin Waze surfaced during investigation of the explosive-laden SUV that was found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai.

    In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, after he was removed from the Police Commissioner’s post, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai.

    NCP leader Deshmukh was the home minister of the state in the MVA government headed by Thackeray.

    The CBI booked Deshmukh and others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy and section of Prevention of Corruption Act for “attempt to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of public duty”.

    “The preliminary enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognisable offence is made out in the matter, wherein the then home minister of Maharashtra, Shri Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty,” the CBI FIR had alleged.

    The CBI enquiry found Waze, assistant inspector of Mumbai police, had been reinstated into the police force after being out of service for more than 15 years.

    Waze was entrusted with some of the most sensational and important cases of Mumbai city and Deshmukh was in knowledge of the said fact, the CBI FIR alleged.

    It alleged that Deshmukh “and others” exercised undue influence over the transfer and posting of officials and thereby exercising undue influence over the performance of official duties by the officials, it claimed.

    After registering the FIR on April 21, the CBI had also carried out searches in Mumbai and Nagpur at premises linked to the former minister who had resigned after the high court had ordered a CBI probe against him in connection with this case.

    Deshmukh had told reporters after the searches that he cooperated with the CBI officials.

  • ED attaches Rs 3-crore assets of TMC leaders, others in Saradha scam case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has attached assets worth Rs 3 crore of TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, its MP Satabdi Roy and Debjani Mukherjee in the Saradha chit fund money laundering case.

    It said a provisional order for attachment of the movable and immovable properties has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The central probe agency said in a statement that the assets belong to “Kunal Ghosh, ex-Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamool Congress (CEO of Media Group Saradha), Satabdi Roy, Lok Sabha MP from TMC (brand ambassador in Saradha), and Debjani Mukherjee who is director in Saradha Group of companies in Saradha chit fund case.”

    Assets worth Rs 600 crore have been attached in this case till now.

    The ED is probing the money laundering aspect of the alleged ponzi scam since April, 2013.

    The Saradha group allegedly cheated thousands of depositors, promising abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes.

    Ghosh, who is out on bail in the case, was suspended from the TMC in 2013 for alleged anti-party activities.

    He has been questioned by the ED in this case apart from others.

    He was later reinstated as the party spokesperson.

    The former TMC MP headed a TV channel and a daily, which was funded by the now-defunct Saradha group.

  • Enforcement Directorate raids ex-United Bank of India CMD Archana Bhargava 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has searched two premises of former United Bank of India (UBI) CMD Archana Bhargava in connection with a money laundering investigation.

    It said the action against the banker, also a former executive director of Canara Bank, was undertaken in Delhi under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is based on a 2018 FIR filed against her by the CBI for alleged possession of disproportionate assets.

    “As per the CBI FIR, she had amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 3.63 crore during the check period when she was occupying senior positions in various public sector banks,” the agency said in a statement.

    “The searches were carried out by the ED to trace the proceeds of crime and to unearth the documentary evidence showing acquisition, routing, layering and projection (as legitimate assets) of the said proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 3.63 crore, leading to commission of the offence of money-laundering,” the agency added.

    ED carries out searches at two premises belonging to Archana Bhargava, Ex- Chairperson-cum-Managing Director of United Bank of India and also Ex- Executive Director of Canara Bank
    — ED (@dir_ed) March 26, 2021

    As a result of searches, it said, ED has recovered certain “incriminating documents and electronic evidences pertaining to aforesaid further reinforcing the case against Archana Bhargava.”

    The ED said this is a second case of money laundering filed against the ex-banker and she was already being probed by it under the criminal sections of PMLA on the basis of a 2016 CBI FIR.

    “The said FIR pertains to use of Kolkata-based shell companies to layer the proceeds of crime into the accounts of Rank Mercantile Private Limited (RMPL), a company owned by her husband and son,” the ED said.

    Bhargava became a Deputy General Manager of Punjab National Bank in 2004 and General Manager in 2008.

    She worked as Executive Director at Canara Bank from April 1, 20011 to April 22, 2013.

    She joined the United Bank of India on April 23, 2013 as Chairperson-cum-Managing Director, a position she held till February 20, 2014.

  • Enforcement Directorate attaches Rs 32-crore assets of TV channels in TRP case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached assets worth about Rs 32 crore of some Maharashtra-based television channels in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged TRP scam.

    The properties, attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) belong to channels like Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema and Maha Movie and are in the form of land and commercial and residential units in Mumbai, Indore, Delhi and Gurgaon apart from some bank deposits, the central agency said in a statement.

    The agency claimed that “in two of these channels just 5 compromised households were contributing to approximately 25 per cent of the viewership of Mumbai for the relevant period and for the third channel, 5 compromised households were contributing to about 12 per cent of viewership of Mumbai.”

    The agency had filed a money laundering case against the channels after studying a Mumbai Police FIR for alleged manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRPs).

    “Television channels namely Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema and Maha Movie had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat and commit the offence of criminal breach of trust, forgery in order to gain wrongfully by manipulating TRPs of these television channels.”

    “Thus, by fraudulently enhancing the TRP ratings, these channels have garnered enhanced advertisement revenue,” the ED claimed.

    TRP indicates popularity of a TV channel or a programme and also enables advertisers to understand viewership pattern.

    The agency claimed its investigation found that “people meters or devices also called Bar-O-Meters are installed at certain places/households (about 1,800 in Mumbai and 44,000 in India) on a proportionate basis to mimic the viewership pattern of 197 million households in India for capturing viewership of various channels of different genres and languages in selected homes to calculate the TRP.”

    These barometers are installed for Broadcast Audience Research Council by Hansa (BARC decides the household where the Bar-o-meter is to be installed and the installation is handled by third party agency known as Hansa Research Group Limited) and employees (relationship managers) of Hansa install and service the device, it said.

    “TRP becomes an important basis on which advertisement is allocated to any channel and determines the revenue generation of television channel.

    Thus, manipulation of TRP becomes a tool for generating greater advertisement revenue It was found that the “confidential information of the households where Bar-o-meter are installed was revealed by the relationship managers to various unscrupulous elements for pecuniary gains and  thereafter the households were bribed and induced to watch specific channels, which fraudulently enhanced the television rating points (TRP) for the television channel and on the basis of rigged TRP, advertisers were  deceived and advertised on the channel which would not have been otherwise done.”

    The ED claimed that the accused channels generated a total “proceeds of crime” to the tune of Rs 46.77 crore.

  • Gangster Iqbal Mirchi’s family declared fugitive economic offenders: ED officials

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special court here on Friday declared three family members of late gangster Iqbal Mirchi as ‘fugitive economic offenders’ under the provisions of a criminal law by the same name, official sources said.

    Those charged include Mirchi’s wife Hajra Memon and sons Junaid Memon and Asif Memon. They said that the court of Additional Sessions Judge AA Nandgaonkar declared the three as fugitive economic offenders under section 12 of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018. “The court also directed the Enforcement Directorate to seize their properties in India and abroad after following due process of law,” an official said.

    The central probe agency had moved the court, also the special court for trying cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), last December to get declared the three as violators of this law, enacted by the Narendra Modi government in 2018 to cripple those who are charged with high-value economic frauds and abscond from the country to evade the law.

    The court subsequently had issued notice to the three accused to appear before it on February 16 but as they did not comply with the directive, the court made the declaration on Friday.

    The ED had then also sought (in the application made on December 3) confiscation of 15 Indian properties including the 3rd and 4th floor of Ceejay House (in Mumbai) having market value of about Rs 96 crore and six bank accounts having balance of Rs 1.9 crore.

    The ED has filed a money laundering case against Mirchi, who died at the age of 63 in London in 2013, his family and others last year after studying multiple Mumbai Police FIRs lodged against them. The agency had alleged Mirchi “indirectly owned various properties in and around Mumbai”.

    It had filed the criminal case against Mirchi and those connected to him to probe money laundering charges linked to their alleged illegal dealings in the purchase and sale of costly real estate assets in Mumbai.

    Mirchi was alleged to be the right-hand man of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim in drug trafficking and extortion crimes. Properties worth about Rs 798 crore have been attached by the agency till now in this case.

    Under the FEO Act, a person can be declared a fugitive economic offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving an amount of Rs 100 crore or more and he has left the country and refuses to return.

    Businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and four promoters/directors of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech company, facing similar money laundering charges, have been declared fugitive economic offenders in the past on the basis of investigations done by the ED.

    A UK court on Thursday ruled that Nirav Modi can be extradited to India to face charges of bank fraud and money laundering. In the Mirchi case, an open ended non-bailable warrant was also issued by the same court against the three accused after a charge sheet was filed against them by the ED.

    The three are stated to be based abroad and have till now evaded ED’s summons and the court-issued warrants.