ED attaches assets totalling Rs 1.66 crore in chit fund case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 1.66 crore in a case pertaining to cheating and siphoning of the public money in Jharkhand and other states by offering returns on their investment.

The assets held in the name of Jeetendra Mohan, Vishal Kumar Sinha, Prashant Kumar, DJN Jewellers, Ram Kishun Thakur and sisters concerns of DJN group were attached under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The immovable properties are located at Garhwa, Latehar and Ranchi Districts of Jharkhand.

The movable properties are in the form of bank balance to the tune of Rs 5.73 lakh lying in fourteen bank accounts and five vehicles worth Rs 59.57 Lakh.

The ED initiated investigations on the basis of FIR and charge sheet filed by Lalpur Police Station, District Ranchi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for offence such as cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust.

Investigations conducted under PMLA revealed that the DJN Commodities was registered with MCX, Mumbai, under the proprietorship of Vishal Kumar Sinha.

The directors of this company conspired with other accused persons to cheat the investors and developed software in the name of the company i.e. DJN Commodities for offline trading.

Subsequently, DJN Commodities [offline] collected public deposits in the name of online trading with a promise to offer handsome returns at a high rate of interest on a monthly basis.

Instead of giving returns to investors, the accused persons indulged in money circulation activity and fraudulently gave a rosy picture to the depositors and investors about the sound financial health of the company.

The accused persons indulged in running ingenious schemes of recurring deposits in Jewellery shops to dupe innocent investors and depositors of their hard-earned money.