Koda case: Rs144 cr worth properties attached by special court

The court found that the properties were involved in the offence of laundering under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

 

Property worth Rs144 crore which includes 25 flats and a shopping mall have been attached in connection with the disproportionate assets case against the alleged associates of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda.

The order for attachment of the flats, in posh localities of Pune and Mumbai, and a shopping Mall in Jamshedpur was issued by a special money laundering court in Delhi.

The court found that the said properties were involved in the offence of laundering under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in a case probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Some of the frozen assets also belong to businessman Anil Adinath Bastawade, who was earlier this year nabbed from Indonesia by the agency.

"The above materials (prosecution evidence) and the submissions made me feel convinced that prima facie all the properties provisionally attached are involved in money laundering and therefore liable for attachment. I, therefore, order for confirmation of the provisional attachment order in question," K Raamamoorthy, Chairman of the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA, said in his order.

Under PMLA, a retired judge of a High Court is the Chairman of the Authority.

The ED's Lucknow zonal office had issued attachment orders on these assets in February this year and with this order it will now be able to issue prohibitory orders on them.

The attached assets also include properties of Manoj B Punamiya, associate of Koda and an accused in the case, with ten flats in a single apartment complex in Mumbai's Matunga suburb.

Other flats of Punamiya that have been seized are located in Malad, Goregaon, Nariman Point and one 'Emerald Mall' in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand worth Rs 14.20 crore.