ED attaches fresh assets worth over Rs 1,500 crore in Sahara case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth more than Rs 1,500 crore as part of a money-laundering investigation against the Sahara Group.

A provisional order was issued by the federal probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a total of 1,023 acres of land of Sahara Prime City Limited in 16 cities.

The total value of these plots is Rs 1,538 crore (according to the 2016 circle rate). These pieces of land were purchased through "benami" transactions, with the funds "diverted" from Sahara entities, the agency said in a statement.

These pieces of land are located in Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, the statement said.

Last week, the ED attached 707 acres of land in Amby Valley, located in Maharashtra's Lonavala, worth Rs 1,460 crore (market value).

The money-laundering case stems from more than 500 FIRs filed by various state police departments.

Three FIRs registered against Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Limited (HICCSL) and others by police in Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan, apart from more than 500 such complaints filed against Sahara Group entities and related persons, have been analysed by the ED.

The agency alleged that the Sahara Group was running a "Ponzi" scheme through various entities, such as HICCSL, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited (SCCSL), Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SUMCS), Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (SMCSL), Sahara India Commercial Corporation Limited (SICCL), Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) and other group entities.

"The group has cheated the depositors and agents by alluring them with high returns and commissions respectively, and utilised the funds collected in a non-regulated manner without any information or control of the depositors," the ED said.