ED attaches Rs 462 cr property in slum redevelopment scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a Rs 462 crore worth property of Pyramid Developers as part of its ongoing probe in an alleged multi-crore scam and named Congress MLA Baba Siddique, an official said on Friday.

The property in Bandra West was seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"We have attached properties worth Rs 462 crore in Bandra West of Pyramid Developers in a case of fraud related to slum redevelopment scheme against Baba Siddique and others," an ED official said.

The agency is investigating if Siddiqui, as Chairman of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) between 2000 and 2004, misused his position to help the firm bag the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project that was being developed in Bandra.

The alleged scam is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore.

The ED is also investigating if Pyramid Developers is a front company floated by the Congress leader and the money made through the sale of flats laundered to create assets.

The offence was registered by the Mumbai Police in March 2014.

Based on the complaint filed by a resident, Abdul Salaam, in 2012, the Mumbai Police registered a case against Siddique and 150 others for the alleged irregularities in the allotment of houses in the SRA project.

The police action was initiated after a Metropolitan Magistrate Court ordered a probe into the case.

--IANS

rak/in/mr