ED attaches properties of Prakash Industries under money laundering case

Properties worth Rs 227.95 crore were attached

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 227.95 crore of Prakash Industries Limited, Hisar, Haryana under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a coal block allocation case.

According to the statement by ED, the attached assets are in the form of land at Hisar, Delhi, Noida and various parts of Chhattisgarh.

ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CBI against the company in 2016. In the FIR it was alleged that Ved Prakash Agarwal, Chairman of Prakash Industries Ltd. and other officials of the company had misrepresented and concealed facts which includes furnishing false production capacity and financial position in order to qualify for coal block allocation process and fraudulently obtained Chotia Coal Block in Chhattisgarh in 2003.

Excavation of coal started in the year 2006.

Later Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of the coal block in September 2014, however, excavation continued till the year 2015.

Money Laundering Investigation by ED has revealed that the total coal illegally excavated during the period between 2006 and 2015, valued at Rs 951.77 crore has been identified as Proceeds of Crime. The income generated had been used in the acquisition of assets by Prakash Industries Ltd. and its promoters.

Further investigation is underway.