Page 12 - Enforcement Directorate

Former aide of CM Soren behind ₹1,000 cr illegal mining syndicate: ED

A former representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren leveraged "political influence" to mastermind an illegal mining syndicate in the state that generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 1,000 crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday. The federal agency said in a statement that it has made these charges in a fresh prosecution complaint (chargesheet) filed in this case on June 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi. "The current complaint brings to light the roles of eight additional individuals and two companies, who have been found to be integral to the criminal network orchestrated by Pankaj Mishra, the then political representative of the chief minister of Jharkhand," the ED claimed. Mishra was arrested by the ED in July 2022 after raids were conducted against him and some others. He was the political representative of Soren in his assembly constituency of Barhait in Sahibganj district. Soren has always maintained th

Sonia, Rahul Gandhi wanted to usurp ₹2,000 cr AJL company: ED to court

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday alleged Sonia and Rahul Gandhi wanted to usurp the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), a Rs 2,000 crore company, the publisher of National Herald newspaper. Special judge Vishal Gogne was hearing the submissions on the point of cognisance in the National Herald case. Additional solicitor general S V Raju said a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian Private Limited in which the Gandhis held 76 per cent shares to usurp the assets of AJL, which took a Rs 90 crore loan from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) despite having assets worth in crores. Explaining the conspiracy, the ASG said, "AJL was not making profits but had assets worth Rs 2,000 crore. But they were finding it difficult to manage their daily affairs. If you are doing reasonably well, you cannot say, I am in loss, etc. You have to build a facade. Rs 90 crore loan was taken from the AlCC. They (AJL) said we cannot repay you (AICC). Ordinarily, any prudent person .

SC rejects Lalit Modi's plea seeking BCCI to pay ₹10.65 cr ED penalty

Supreme Court dismisses Lalit Modi's plea to make BCCI pay ₹10.65 crore Fema penalty; says he may pursue civil remedies

ED attaches Mahira Group assets worth ₹557 cr in money laundering case

The ED initiated the probe based on FIRs filed by Gurugram Police against Sai Aaina Farms Pvt. Ltd. and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code

ED alleges cash scam in management quota admissions at 3 Bengaluru colleges

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday alleged that admission of students through the management quota in three Bengaluru-based private colleges was being done in an "opaque" manner using money, including funds in cash. The federal probe agency's statement comes after they conducted searches at 17 locations on June 25-26 in a "seat blocking scam" case. The raids were carried out at the premises of BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute of Engineering and Technology, and New Horizon College of Engineering, along with those associated with these institutions, the agency said in a statement. A few entities engaged in educational consultancy services and some private agents were also raided. The ED case stems from a Karnataka Police FIR registered by the KEA (Karnataka Examination Authority) against these colleges. The complaint alleged that these colleges colluded with unknown individuals to acquire the login credentials of students registered with the KEA and subsequently bloc

ED searches 10 places in Delhi-NCR, Punjab in ₹988 crore loan fraud case

Central agency searches premises linked to Shilpi Cables and its managing director Manish Goel

ED raids in Delhi-NCR, Punjab in ₹988 crore bank loan 'fraud' case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple premises in Delhi-NCR and Punjab as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 988 crore bank loan fraud case, official sources said. The action is being undertaken against the promoters of a company, Shilpi Cables Technologies Ltd (SCTL), and some linked entities. Nine premises in Delhi-NCR and one in Jalandhar were part of the searches being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR alleging cheating a consortium of banks led by the IDBI Bank to the tune of Rs 988 crore by the promoters of SCTL and their associates, they said. The ED suspects that a large portion of the money (loan) availed from the banks using LsC (Letters of Credit) were transferred abroad through "fake" transactions. The role of the company managing director (MD) Manish Goel is under the scanner of the agency, as per the sources.

ED raids in Gujarat, Maharashtra in cyber fraud probe over ₹100 cr scam

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches in Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of a money laundering investigation linked to fraudsters who allegedly committed cyber crimes like digital arrests and transferred funds of more than Rs 100 crore abroad, official sources said. The raids were conducted in Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and in Mumbai by the Surat sub-zonal office of the federal probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The money laundering case stems from a Gujarat Police FIR against Makbul Doctor, Kaashif Doctor, Bassam Doctor, Mahesh Mafatlal Desai, Maaz Abdul Raheem Nada and some others, the sources said. The accused are alleged to have been involved in cheating general public through various cyber frauds such as fake USDT trading (crypto currency), digital arrests, threatening innocent individuals by sending fake notices of law enforcement agencies etc., they said. The money obtained from gullible persons through this cyber frau

Summonses issued to Saluja's lawyers cause unrest among legal fraternity

The legal fraternity raises alarms after ED summons senior advocates Datar and Venugopal over advice in the Religare-Care Health ESOP case, citing threats to legal independence

ED seizes 322 mule accounts, dummy firms in ₹2K cr 'Delhi classroom scam'

ED raids 37 sites in Delhi, recovers fake contractor bills, government files and 322 mule-linked passbooks in Rs 2,000 crore classroom construction scam probe

PNB scam: Court clears release of Nirav Modi's ₹66.3 cr assets for recovery

A Mumbai court has allowed the release of Nirav Modi and Purvi Modi's assets worth ₹66.33 crore, attached by the ED in the PNB fraud case, to help recover losses

Can't seal locked premises during PMLA searches: ED tells Madras HC

The Enforcement Directorate has submitted before the Madras High Court that it has no power to seal the premises, if the same was locked at the time of making search under the provisions of PMLA. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju made the submission when the petitions filed by film producer Akash Bhaskaran and businessman Vikram Ravindran came up for hearing before a division bench comprising Justices M S Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan on Wednesday. In their petitions, Akash and Vikram challenged the action of ED in conducting the search at their residence and office and sealing the same. When the case came up, the bench questioned the power of ED to seal the premises. Raju submitted that the central prove agency has no power to seal the premises. However, it has powers under section 17 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to break open the lock. But, the ED did not want to escalate the situation, he added. He also informed the bench that the ED was instructed to withd

Urvashi Rautela, Yuvraj Singh & Sonu Sood under ED scanner: Know why

The Enforcement Directorate has intensified its probe into illegal online betting platforms, and this time it has brought celebrities including Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Sonu Sood

Vadra skips ED summons again, cites court's permission to travel abroad

Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, skipped his scheduled deposition before the Enforcement Directorate for the second time in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, official sources said on Tuesday. Vadra's lawyer said his client was travelling abroad with the "prior" permission of the court to attend his daughter's graduation ceremony. He was asked to appear on Tuesday (June 17) after he failed to do so on June 10. The federal probe agency may issue him a fresh date after examining his reply. The permission to travel (on June 17) was obtained well before the service of the latest summons and an intimation has been sent to the ED also, advocate Suman Jyoti Khaitan said. "Mr Vadra has repeatedly stated that he is available to extend his fullest cooperation with the ED as he has done on all prior occasions, both upon his return from abroad and also for recording his statement through video conference during

ED questions Yuvraj Singh, Urvashi Rautela in endorsements of betting apps

ED has reportedly said that these platforms often promote themselves as skill-based gaming platform but operate on luck-based outcomes

ED issues fresh summons to Robert Vadra in Sanjay Bhandri linked PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for questioning in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, official sources said on Monday. He has been asked to depose before the federal probe agency here on June 17 for the recording of his statement in this case that is being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. Vadra, 56, was called for questioning in the case on June 10 but he skipped, saying he had flu-like symptoms on June 9 and had undertaken a COVID test as per protocol. His lawyer had then said that Vadra had no intention of avoiding summons and was ready to appear before the ED anytime before or after his travel abroad later this month. The agency is understood to have summoned Vadra to record his statement under the PMLA and subsequently file a chargesheet in the case. The federal probe agency had questio

ED restores Rs 1,000-cr worth assets to Andhra govt to help Ponzi victims

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has achieved finality in restoring assets worth a total Rs 7,000 crore, duped from investors through an alleged Ponzi scheme, to the Andhra Pradesh government for further restitution to the victims of the Agri Gold "fraud". The federal probe agency initiated this process in February as it restored properties worth Rs 3,339 crore (present market value of more than Rs 6,000 crore). The ED has now done the same and restituted assets worth Rs 611 c rore (current market value of over Rs 1,000 crore), it said. The case pertains to Agri Gold group of companies which is alleged to have collected deposits from around 19 lakh customers (32 lakh account holders) in the name of real estate investment with a promise of "high returns" or a residential plot, as per the agency. The Hyderabad-based zonal office of the ED had in May filed a restitution application under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 before a special .

ED conducts fresh searches in Bihar govt tenders' irregularities case

The Enforcement Directorate has conducted fresh searches in a money laundering case linked to an alleged contractor-bureaucrats nexus in Bihar where purported irregularities were detected in the tenders issued by the state government. The raids were conducted at nine locations in Patna and Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Surat (Gujrarat) and Panipat (Haryana) on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case linked to Patna-based contractor Rishu Shree, the federal probe agency said in a statement. Several "incriminating" evidence and documents were seized during the raids that were carried out against some people and travel agents "connected" to the contractor, it said. The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the special vigilance unit (SVU) of Bihar government against Rishu Shree and others. The companies of the contractor take contracts and sub-contracts in various Bihar government departments like water resources, health, public health engineeri

Lokpal invites CBI, ED officers on deputation for new inquiry wing

The Lokpal has sought applications from officers with experience in working with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to join its inquiry wing on deputation. The applications have been invited for filling up of various posts i.e., deputy director (DD)/superintendent of police (SP), inquiry/investigation officer, assistant inquiry/investigation officer and personal assistant in the inquiry wing of Lokpal of India on a deputation basis, according to an official circular. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, came into force on January 1, 2014, when it received the assent of the President. However, it began functioning only on March 27, 2019, following the appointment of its chairperson and members. To discharge its statutory functions, Section 11 of the Act obligates the Lokpal to constitute an inquiry wing to conduct a preliminary inquiry into any offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, alleged to have been committed by th

Nexa Evergreen land Scam: ED raids 24 sites across Rajasthan, Gujarat

The real estate firm allegedly defrauded around 62,000 investors by offering land in Gujarat's Dholera and promising to double investments in 14 months