Iqbal Mirchi PMLA probe: ED attaches 7 properties worth Rs 600 crore

The attached properties are commercial buildings at Worli and Tardeo, residential units at prime Worli locations, three commercial shops in Crawford market, and a piece of land in Lonawala

Continuing its crackdown on terror funding, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached seven plush properties, worth Rs 600 crore, acquired by Iqbal Memon (alias Iqbal Mirchi) and his family members. The move, part of ED’s investigation into a money laundering case against Mirchi, follows the prosecution complaint filed by the probe agency in the matter on Monday.

These properties include commercial buildings —Ceejay House located at Worli and Arun Chambers in Tardeo. The other attached properties are Sahil Bungalow, Rabia Manison, Marium Lodge and Sea View at prime Worli locations. Three commercial shops in Crawford market and a land measuring five acres in Lonawala have also been attached.

Mirchi indirectly owned these properties in Mumbai and some other parts of Maharastra, said an ED official.

During their probe, enforcement officials had identified Iqbal Mirchi’s 30 properties in London, Dubai and Maharashtra's Mumbai, together worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

Explaining the transaction of Ceejay House, ED said Mirchi family owned 14,000 square feet on third and fourth floors of this 15-storey prime commercial property. This building was redeveloped by Millennium Developer. Certain parts of the plot were in possession of M K Mohammad earlier.

Mirchi entered into an agreement with Mohammad to acquire the rights to the property in the name of his wife Hajra Memon for Rs 9 lakh in 1986. Though a payment of only Rs 20,000 was made during then, the possession of the property was taken by Memon the same year. Memon started a discotheque by the name of Fisherman’s Wharf on the property. Later, at the time of redevelopment, Mirchi was given two floors in the newly constructed Ceejay House in the name of his wife and sons, official said.

The 15-storey building was a joint venture between Mirchi and Millennium Developers Private Limited in 2006-07.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel, who owns two flats in Ceejay House and is also shareholder of Millennium Developers Private, is also under ED’s scanner. Similarly, transactions for other properties had also been done to hide the criminal origins of the funds used in acquiring those, official added. For instance, Sahil Bungalow was acquired by Mirchi in the name of his wife and brother (Aslam Merchant) and sister (Zaibunnisaa Mohd Memon). Later, both his brother and sister transferred their shares to his wife. Apart from this, three of the properties located in Mumbai’s Worli were sold to Sunblink Realtors Private and Millennium Developers. 

Sunblink paid Rs 111.80 crore to various persons /entities (including Mirchi) in India in relation to this deal, while Mirchi was Rs 154 crore in Dubai. With this money, Memon bought a hotel, Midwest Apartment, in Dubai for AED 93 million.

The ownership of these three is still with a trust. However, investigation has found that the so-called trust acted in an active collusion with Mirchi and was the proxy owner of properties involving laundered money, official explained. Another property in Lonawala was earlier in the name of Hajra Iqbal Memon. But in 2005 its ownership was transferred to White Water Developer, a company formed by Humayun Merchant, a close associate of Mirchi’s and one of the accused in the Mirchi case. 

The Lonawala land had been transferred without any consideration to Memon’s two sons ink 2010.

Iqbal Mirchi died in London, UK, after suffering a heart attack in 2013.

ED is learnt to have established the money trail involving these properties as benami belonging to Iqbal Mirchi. A fake bank account in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, was also used to route the money.

The ED investigation has also revealed that Mirchi's family owns 25 properties in the UK that were purchased using proceeds from crimes committed in India.