ED raids Mohan India

Establishes direct fund transfer from company to the exchange official

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at offices of Mohan India and their group companies across the country under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Mohan India is one of the biggest defaulters and owes investors Rs 908 crore.

The searches follow a settlement agreement signed on Thursday with NSEL and its investors’ body for paying Rs 771 crore in a year, with a 15 per cent haircut. Mohan India’s group companies Brinda Commodities and Tavishi Enterprise were also raided. The settlement by the company is seen as a time-buying exercise.

The investigation has revealed massive diversion and laundering of funds in real estate, luxury villas and flats, luxury cars and bullion. ED, according to sources, has found a direct link of fund trail with Amit Mukherjee, former assistant vice-president of the NSEL and now in police custody.

The raids have found the group that borrowed from the NSEL platform for sugar business was never in the business and had been mainly a real estate player.  The funds rasied were used for land in and near Delhi in a posh area of Jorbagh, luxury villa in Gurgaon, properties in Karnal, Lucknow, Chandigarh. Valuation of all the properties has been put at Rs 500-600 crore.

The ED has also searched the resident of Amit Mukherjee, an employee of NSEL, who is presently in Police custody.

ED has identified money paid to him and transferred to his bank accounts directly by the Mohan India which was used to purchase the properties in Delhi and Karnal. Even a residential flat valuing Rs.3-4 crore in North Mumbai purchased by Amit was from the money paid by the Mohan India.

A direct trail of transfer of funds from mohan India to an employee of the NSEL (Amit Mukherjee) is seen seriously by the ED. “such a direct linkages are normally difficult to establish,” said the source in ED.