Page 47 - Enforcement Directorate

Delhi CM Kejriwal skips seventh ED summons; asks to wait for Court decision

AAP has emphasised that the matter is currently sub judice, with the next court hearing scheduled for March 16

FEMA case: ED summons Hiranandani Group promoters for questioning on Monday

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Niranjan Hiranandani and his son Darshan Hiranandani, the promoters of prominent Mumbai-based real estate developer Hiranandani Group, for questioning in a foreign exchange violation case on February 26, official sources said on Sunday. The Hiranandanis have been asked to depose at the central agency's office in Mumbai but they may choose to submit their primary responses through an authorised representative, they said. Darshan Hiranandani has been living in Dubai for the last many years. About four premises of the Hiranandani Group in and around Mumbai were searched by the ED last week under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Apart from some foreign transactions, the agency is said to be probing the beneficiaries of a British Virgin Islands (BVI)-based trust allegedly linked to the Hiranandani Group promoters. The group has said it will cooperate with the ED in this FEMA investigation. Official sources said the

Court to pass order on AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan's bail plea on Mar 1

A local court will pronounce on March 1 its order on the application of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who is seeking anticipatory bail in a money-laundering case related to alleged irregularities at the Delhi Waqf Board in hiring staff and leasing out assets during his chairmanship. Special Judge Rakesh Syal reserved the order after hearing arguments from the counsel appearing for Khan and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the application, which has said the MLA anticipates being arrested by the central probe agency in the case. During the arguments, the ED opposed the application and claimed that Khan may not cooperate in the investigation if he is granted pre-arrest bail. Khan, the AAP's Okhla MLA, was not named as an accused in the charge sheet that the ED recently filed. The agency has named five entities in its prosecution complaint (the ED's equivalent of a charge sheet) that included three suspected associates of Khan -- Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui. The

SC questions TN for filing plea challenging ED summons to officials

The Supreme Court has questioned the Tamil Nadu government for filing a plea in the Madras High Court against the Enforcement Directorate for its probe in a money laundering case. The central probe agency had summoned the district collectors of Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur in connection with its probe in the illegal sand mining case. The state government along with the bureaucrats had moved the Madras High Court that stayed the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate. The agency had moved the top court against the order. "How can the state file this writ petition? Under which law? You satisfy us on how the state is interested and how it can file this writ petition against Enforcement Directorate. How is the state aggrieved," a bench comprising justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal asked the counsel appearing for the Tamil Nadu government. The bench said the officials should cooperate with the ED. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Amit Anand .

ED summons ex-U'khand minister Harak Singh Rawat for questioning on Feb 29

Notably, the ED had conducted raids across Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Delhi, including Rawat's residence, on February 7 in the alleged forest scam case

Naresh Goyal's reports suggest malignancy, further testing needed

A medical board of the state-run J J Hospital here on Friday informed a special court that private medical reports of Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal suggest that he is suffering from "malignancy", but it needs to carry out further tests. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has arrested the businessman in a money laundering case, opposed his interim bail application on health grounds and suggested he could be treated at the city-based Tata Memorial Hospital. Goyal, 74, moved the court on February 15, saying he required special treatment as tests conducted by private doctors showed that he had small tumors in his intestine. M G Deshpande, judge for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases, then ordered setting up of a medical board by the J J Hospital to examine the reports. During the hearing on Friday, the ED submitted that the board did not give any independent opinion, but categorically stated that it needed to carry out some tests which were not available at J J ...

Delhi HC dismisses TMC leader Moitra's plea alleging media leakage from ED

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra's plea against the alleged leakage of "confidential" information from the ED to the media in relation to a probe against her under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). "Dismissed," said Justice Subramonium Prasad while pronouncing the verdict. Moitra had sought a direction to restrain the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from "leaking any information, including any confidential, sensitive, unverified/unconfirmed information, to the print/electronic media in relation to the ongoing investigation". She had also sought a direction to restrain several media organisations from "leaking, publishing/broadcasting of any information related to the ongoing investigation/proceedings in relation to the investigation being carried out by Respondent No.1 (ED) ... under which a FEMA summons has been issued to the petitioner". A detailed copy of the court's decision is awaited. The senior counsel appearing in

Delhi HC dismisses Mahua's plea against ED for leaking info to media

TMC leader Mahua Moitra had sought directions to ED to refrain from leaking any 'confidential or unverified information' to the media

Bank loan fraud: ED raids in case against company promoted by former UP MLA

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided locations in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana as part of an alleged Rs 750 crore bank loan fraud linked money laundering probe against a road construction and toll plazas operating company promoted by a former UP MLA, official sources said. The search action is being taken against Gangotri Enterprises and its main promoters Vinay Shankar Tiwari, Rita Tiwari and Ajeet Pandey. These accused are alleged to have indulged into an alleged bank loan fraud of about Rs 750 crore between 2012 and 2016 against a consortium of banks led by the Bank of India, the sources said. Vinay Shankar Tiwari is the son of late former minister and strongman from Gorakhpur Hari Shankar Tiwari. He represented his father's assembly constituency of Chillupar in Gorakhpur after he was elected on a BSP ticket. He later joined the Samajwadi Party. About ten premises in Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Noida in UP, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Gurugram (Haryana) are being searched by

Sandeshkhali row: ED files fresh case against TMC's Shahjahan Sheikh

Multiple teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at locations linked to TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh

'No FEMA violations': Hiranandani Group on ED searches at Mumbai office

Hiranandani Group said that the inquiry was related to a 15-year-old matter and it took time to find old records

ED raids residences of absconding TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh's associates

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at residences of businessmen associated with absconding Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh in connection with an old case of fraudulent land grab, a senior officer said. Raids and search operations were started by the ED early Friday morning at five different places in and around the city including Howrah, Bijoygarh and Birati, he said. "These raids are in connection with an old case of fraudulent land grab against Shajahan Sheikh and his associates. These people were involved in fish businesses with Shajahan. We are looking for a few specific documents", the officer said. The ECIR is generally filed by the ED as the case Information report. It is similar to a First Information Report (FIR) in criminal cases, he explained. On January 5, a team of ED officers were assaulted by a mob when they tried to enter the residence of Shajahan at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Three officers were inj

Sandeshkhali case: Calcutta HC grants bail to television journalist

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted bail to a television journalist, who was arrested on duty at the restive Sandeshkhali, observing that the press must be allowed to function freely and independently, without any fear of reprisal or intimidation. Santu Pan, who works for Republic Bangla news channel, was arrested on February 19 on the basis of a complaint by a woman alleging that he had trespassed into her house in Sandeshkhali. Justice Kausik Chanda also stayed all proceedings in connection with the case against him at Sandeshkhali police station in North 24 Parganas district till disposal of his petition seeking quashing of the FIR. The court noted that Sandeshkhali garnered public attention across the country over the assault of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials allegedly by aides of Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh on January 5. Sandeshkhali has witnessed prolonged protests by local women alleging sexual atrocities at gunpoint by certain local political .

ED upgrades look out circular against Byju Raveendran in Fema probe

The Enforcement Directorate has upgraded its Look out Circular (LC) issued against BJYU's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran in connection with a FEMA probe, seeking to stop him for going abroad. The earlier such alert meant that immigration authorities had to just intimate the agency about his movements through various ports. Official sources said that the over an year old LC was revised sometime back in light of investors' concerns and ongoing adjudication of a FEMA contravention case against Raveendran and some others. BYJU's did not comment on the development. Raveendran is currently stated to be in Dubai. The ED has asked the Bureau of Immigration to upgrade the LC against Raveendran so that he is not allowed to go abroad from any Indian land, air or land port before the investigating officer (IO) of the case is informed. Under the new LC, it will be the decision of the IO to either totally stop his foreign travel or allow him to do so after asking some questions and getting ..

ED raids office, other locations of Hiranandani Group over FEMA violation

The searches were conducted at four to five locations in Mumbai, including the head offices of Hiranandani Group

ED issues seventh summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case

While issuing the summons, ED has also rejected Kejriwal's contention that the agency should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses

ED seeks look out circular against Byju Raveendran amid ongoing probes

Enforcement Directorate has urged the Bureau of Immigration for renewed travel restrictions to safeguard investor interests in the Byju's FEMA violation probe

ED files prosecution complaint against Tower Infotech, its MD, under PMLA

The complaint was filed before the Honorable Special Judge, CBI, Court No 1, City Session Court, Kolkata on February 3

ED conducts raids in Kolkata in connection with fake call centre scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is carrying out raids and search operations at multiple locations in the city in connection with a fake call centre scam, a senior officer said on Wednesday. The raids and searches targeted the residences and offices of associates of the owner of Met Technologies Private Limited in the Beniapukur and Baguihati areas, he added. "We are trying to find out where was the money was siphoned to and what roles were played by these people. It seems that several crores of funds were illegally transferred abroad. Hawala connection cannot be ruled out," the ED officer told PTI. According to the agency, the state CID had arrested the owner of the firm in September last year on charges of stealing around Rs 1,000 crore from foreign and Indian nationals through his fake call centre which he had opened in 2005. While in CID custody, the accused tried to destroy evidence by calling some associates, the ED officer claimed.

ED being used for character assassination of Opposition leaders: Pilot

Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday alleged the Centre was using probe agencies like ED for "character assassination" of opposition leaders and crushing their voices. He also attacked the government over unemployment in the country. "95 per cent of cases the ED has registered are against Opposition leaders but the conviction rate is just one per cent. This means the ED (Enforcement Directorate) is being used for character assassination and crushing the voice of Opposition," the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister told reporters. He said protests by farmers in north India underline the problem of policy and intention of the government. "Country's assets have gone into the hands of select people because of the policies of the government," Pilot added.