Page 15 - Enforcement Directorate

Day after arrest, Gujarat Samachar owner gets bail on health grounds

A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Friday granted 15-day interim bail to Bahubali Shah, one of the owners of leading Gujarati newspaper 'Gujarat Samachar', on health grounds. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Shah a day before following raids at the newspaper's premises. Principal District and Sessions Judge K M Sojitra ordered Shah's release on bail till May 31 on furnishing surety and personal bond of Rs 10,000. The investigating official must be apprised of his health status every alternate day and Shah must cooperate with the agency, the court said. Shah had approached the court seeking bail on the grounds of "serious medical/health condition".

ED conducts raids at 9 locations in Gujarat in Waqf Land misuse case

According to the release, during the course of search operations, Bank funds to the tune of Rs 2 Crore (approx) were freezed, Rs 30 Lakh seized in cash and Rs 7 Lakh crypto were freezed

AgustaWestland: Delhi HC reserves order on Christian Michel's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a plea of alleged middleman Christian Michel James seeking modification of his bail conditions in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma heard the counsel for James and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and said she would pass a detailed order in the matter. Michel, who joined the proceedings from Tihar Jail through video-conferencing, confirmed filing the plea through his lawyer. The court previously asked Michel whether he had filed the application through his counsel for the modification of bail conditions. James sought relaxing the bail condition which asked him to furnish a surety of Rs 5 lakh aside from asking to revoke the condition of surrendering his passport. His old passport expired and the process of obtaining a new one is likely to take at least four-eight weeks, his plea said. James' counsel said he couldn't be made to languish in jail even after securing bail till

ED files case in Gujarat over alleged irregularities in Waqf property

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday launched multiple searches in Gujarat as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged financial irregularities in certain Waqf properties in the state, official sources said. A case has been filed by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of a Ahmedabad Police FIR field against one Salim Khan Jumma Khan Pathan, Mohammad Yasar Abdulhamiya Sheikh, Mehmud Khan Jumma Khan Pathan, Fezmohamad Pir Mohammad Chobdar, and Saheed Ahmad Yakubhai Sheikh. They had "illegally" claimed to be trustees of the Kanch Ki Masjid Trust and Shah Bada Kasam Trust, the agency said. About nine premises of the accused and their associates are being raided across Gujarat by the Ahmedabad zonal office of the agency, the sources said. The accused entered into "fraud" lease agreements, extorted rents from tenants, and submitted false affidavits to the Waqf Board. The ED, a federal probe agency, suspects that the accuse

ED raids 5 Kolkata sites over irregularities in NRI quota medical admission

Raids are underway by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at five locations in and around Kolkata on Tuesday in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in admission to private medical colleges under the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota, an official said. ED sleuths started simultaneous raids in the Ballygunge area in the southern part of the city and New Town on the outskirts of the eastern metropolis, he said. "We are conducting raids in connection with the irregularities in NRI quota admissions. There is a coaching centre in New Town which is being searched," a senior ED official said. The central probe agency is investigating whether documents were forged to create false NRI credentials for admission of local Indian students in medical colleges in Odisha's Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

ED arrests 'absconding' ex-Haryana Cong MLA Dharam Chhoker from Delhi hotel

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested "absconding" former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a 5-star hotel in Delhi following a brief scuffle, agency officials said Monday. The 61-year-old ex-legislator was taken into custody from the 'Grappa Bar' of the Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi shortly after 9 pm on Sunday. ED officials said an "intelligence input" was received by them around 8:30 pm on Sunday that Chhoker was present at the hotel bar along with some people. An agency official soon reached the spot in pursuance of seven non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against him apart from a proclaimed offender notification issued by a special PMLA court of Gurugram, they said. Officials alleged Chhoker, on being confronted by the ED officer, started rushing towards the exit. The officer along with ED Gurugram zone joint director Navaneet Aggarwal, who was also present in the hotel, chased the ex-MLA and pinned him down. They alleged Chhoker tried to hit the ED offic

98% ED cases against politicians target Oppn leaders, claims TMC's Gokhale

Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale on Saturday said 98 per cent of the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate against politicians were against opposition leaders. "The remaining two per cent are those who went and joined the BJP's 'washing machine,'" he said. Gokhale referred to Thursday's statement of ED Director Rahul Navin, to claim that the surge in cases post-2014 was at the behest of Narendra Modi, who came to power the same year. Speaking at an event on ED Day, Navin said the anti-money laundering law had been "largely ineffective" before 2014 and there has been a significant step-up in enforcement activity since then. In a post on X, Gokhale said, "Yesterday, the head of central agency ED admitted that there's been a surge of cases filed after Modi Government came to power in 2014." "In the last 11 years, a total of 5,297 cases were filed by ED. How many were taken to court for trial? Only 47," he said. The TMC Rajya Sabha MP said the conviction rate in ED cases

100 PMLA courts in country but money laundering trials delayed: ED

Timely completion of money laundering case trials continues to face several "systemic" and "procedural" hurdles, even though there are 100 special PMLA courts across the country, the Enforcement Directorate has said in its latest report. The federal probe agency has been regularly targeted by political parties in the opposition, alleging that its actions were biased and the conviction rate was "poor" -- a claim strongly refuted by the organisation. ED Director Rahul Navin defended the track record of his agency during an event held here on Thursday to mark the 'ED Day', saying its conviction rate was more than 93 per cent. Same day, the ED also released its first-ever annual report, where it devoted a specific chapter to 'Challenges in Expeditious Completion of PMLA Trials'. Till now, the estimate of yearly work done by the agency was clubbed in the 'Annual Report' of the Union finance ministry under which the ED works. "While the legal framework under PMLA (Prevention of Money ..

Over 1,700 money laundering cases under trial: ED chief Rahul Navin

He attributed the delay in prosecution to the broader issue of slow judicial processes in the country

ED to prioritise FEMA violation cases in 2025: Director Rahul Navin

In a bid to ensure corrective action rather than just punitive measures, the Director added that the ED would encourage defaulters to file for compounding of offences where appropriate

PMLA picked momentum after 2014; conviction rate over 93%: ED director

ED director Rahul Navin on Thursday said that the anti-money laundering law was left "largely ineffective" before 2014, and the slowdown in adjudication of these cases can be attributed to the "general delay" in the judicial system of the country coupled with the inherent complexity of such investigations. Navin also said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had a "commendable conviction" rate of 93.6 per cent as out of the 47 cases decided by courts till now, there have been only three acquittals. Speaking at an event held here to mark the 'ED Day', the agency chief said he "acknowledges candidly" that several investigations initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were pending for a "very long time", and one their focus areas this year would be to undertake efforts to complete probe and file "final" chargesheets fast. The PMLA was enacted in 2003 and came into force on July 1, 2005, but, Navin said, it was "largely ineffective" in the initial years with less

Bengal Guv grants sanction to ED to prosecute ex-minister Partha Chatterjee

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has granted sanction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in a money laundering case related to the recruitment of primary teachers in state-run schools, a Raj Bhavan official said on Thursday. The governor had earlier granted sanction to the CBI to prosecute Chatterjee, who is a Trinamool Congress MLA from Behala Paschim assembly constituency, in a case relating to irregularities in secondary school job recruitment. Besides Chatterjee, Bose also granted sanction to the ED to prosecute Manik Bhattacharya, the then president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, in the case relating to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary school teachers, the official said. The Calcutta High Court had in December refused bail to Chatterjee, who held the education portfolio from 2011 to 2021, in a school jobs case pertaining to recruitment in secondary schools in the state. Chatterjee

Over 1,700 PMLA cases in trial stage; conviction rate at 93.6%: ED director

Over 1700 money laundering cases probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are currently in the trial stage and the delay in courts can be attributed to the general delay in the justice system in the country, ED Director Rahul Navin said on Thursday. The top officer of the ED, however, said the conviction rate of the ED cases was 93.6 per cent as out of 47 cases decided by courts till now, there have been only three acquittals. A total of 1,739 cases of PMLA are under trial at present and the delay in prosecution in the money laundering cases can be attributed to general delay in the justice system in the country, he said while addressing the ED Day event held here. Navin said he "candidly" acknowledges pending investigation in PMLA cases, saying it will be the agency's efforts to file chargesheets in such cases before courts. He said the ED will use advanced technology and forensics in its investigations. The federal probe agency has completed 69 years of its existence as it was

2010 CWG case: Kalmadi supporters celebrate court nod to ED closure report

A section of Congress workers on Tuesday distributed sweets outside former Union minister Suresh Kalmadi's residence here, a day after a Delhi court accepted the ED's closure report in the 2010 Commonwealth Games-related alleged money laundering case against him. While there was no immediate reaction from Kalmadi or his family members over the court's decision, his followers said the court's acceptance of the closure report shows that Kalmadi was not involved in any wrongdoing. Bringing the curtains down on the 13-year-old case, the court on Monday accepted the Enforcement Directorate's closure report in the money laundering case against Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot and others. The allegations of corruption in conducting the CWG triggered a huge political uproar in the country, leading to filing of several criminal and money laundering cases. Kalmadi and others were accused of ...

ED seeks Apple, Xiaomi sales records in Amazon, Flipkart investigation

Enforcement Directorate expands Amazon, Flipkart investigation; smartphone brands asked to share online sales contracts and data

ED conducts search operations at Gensol Engineering; seizes documents

On April 15, India's markets regulator took a slew of actions against Gensol over concerns that the company might have diverted funds raised for business towards personal luxury purchases

'Unique corruption in CBI, ED': Delhi HC sends CBI officials to custody

In an unusual development, the Delhi High Court has remanded three CBI officials to the custody their own probe agency in a corruption case and said it "shakes the edifice of the machinery" whose primary duty was to bring the culprits to book. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, in an order on April 25, said, "It is one of the unique cases of rampant corruption in CBI, ED and such other departments, which shakes the entire edifice of our executive and the investigating machinery which have the primary duty of investigations in crime and bring the culprits to face the penalty corruption." The complaint showed it was not a stand alone case of corruption by the government officials but reflected a "large conspiracy" amongst the officials of various departments who took bribes to give undue advantage or impact and interfere in investigations and the functioning of these departments. "It is, therefore evident that in certain situations as in the present case which is to unearth the larger ...

Major fire at ED office likely damaged Choksi, Nirav Modi, Bhujbal records

The Enforcement Directorate has submitted the original investigation records, retaining copies for itself but the fire is likely to impact the questioning of summoned witnesses

ED conducts raids at 11 premises of several liquor contractors in MP

The investigation was initiated by ED on the basis of an FIR against the Liquor Contractors, for causing loss to government revenue to the tune of Rs. 49,42,45,615 through forgery

Fire breaks out at ED office in Mumbai, important govt files destroyed

A major blaze broke out at the Enforcement Directorate's office building in south Mumbai in the early hours of Sunday, and the firefighting operations have continued for more than six hours, officials said. There were no reports of casualties in the fire that broke out at the Kaiser-I-Hind building in the Ballard Estate area, they said. Officials said the blaze, which started on the fourth floor of the five-storey building housing the ED office around 2.31 am, has continued to rage despite efforts. Firefighters are struggling to bring the blaze under control, a fire brigade official said. Mumbai Fire Bridge upgraded the fire to Level III at around 4.17 am, which is generally considered a major fire. At least eight fire engines, six jetties, water tankers and other equipment have been deployed to the spot. The official said several documents and equipment inside the office are feared to have been damaged. He said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.