StockGuru scam: ED attaches assets worth Rs 83 crore of couple

Seized properties include some 'benami' immovable assets that the couple had allegedly purchased on fake identities

Initiating its first action in the multi-crore StockGuru scam, the Enforcement Directorate has issued attachment orders on properties worth Rs 83 crore of main accused Ullas Prabhakar Khaire and his wife under anti-money laundering laws.

The seized properties, which are spread in various parts of the country like Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Nagpur in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and other cities in Andhra Pradesh and few places in Haryana, include some 'benami' immovable assets that the couple had allegedly purchased on fake identities.

The agency, sources said, will soon issue prohibitory orders on these assets, including cash, jewellery and bank accounts, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

ED took the latest action after it recorded the statement of the duo, lodged in Tihar jail here in judicial custody, sometime back and went through the probe reports of other agencies in this regard.

The agency's action to attach these properties under PMLA is aimed at depriving the accused of the benefits of these assets which are alleged to have been created through the "proceeds of crime" and duping investors of their hard earned money.

The sources said apart from the latest attachment orders, some more properties would soon be frozen under the same laws.

The agency had registered a money laundering case against Ullas Prabhakar alias Lokeshwar Dev and his wife Raksha alias Priyanka Saraswat earlier this year after they were caught by Delhi Police.

Acting in the same case, the CBI, last week, arrested Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Yogendra Mittal for allegedly receiving bribes from Khaire after raids were conducted by the I-T department against him some years back.