Page 48 - Enforcement Directorate

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.

Won't arrest Wankhede in money laundering case till March 1: ED to HC

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that it will extend till March 1 its previous statement that it would not arrest Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in a money laundering case. A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar accepted the statement and posted Wankhede's petition against the case on March 1. The bench directed the probe agency to produce a copy of the ECIR (complaint) on that day. The ED registered a money laundering case against Wankhede after taking cognisance of a first information report (FIR) by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged Rs 25-crore bribe demand from superstar Shah Rukh Khan's family to spare his son in a drugs case. Earlier this month, Wankhede filed a petition in the high court seeking to quash the ED's case and, through an interim order, sought protection from any coercive action and a stay on the probe. The probe agency had last week said it wo

ED nabs middleman in SSC scam, conducts searches in Jute Mill PF scam

Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested one person who was allegedly working as a middleman in in West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam, an officer said on Tuesday. The person, who was earlier apprehended by the CBI in the same case in 2022 and later released, was arrested after at least 10 hours of grilling and searches at his home and office in the New Town by the ED officers, he said. "He was arrested late Monday night. We have evidence of his acting as a middleman in the scam. He will be produced at a city court today", the ED officer said. After the 2022 arrest by the CBI, the accused was granted bail by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the ED on Monday started search operations at the office of a Jute Mill owner in the outstanding provident fund dues scam, he added. Accompanied by a huge team of central forces the ED officers raided the office and residence of the Jute Mill owner in Sankrail and Ballygunge respectively, he said, adding that

ED has not yet found forex breaches at Paytm Payments Bank: Report

Last week, India's Enforcement Directorate announced the investigation into overseas transactions by Paytm Payments Bank, a unit of One 97 Communications, popularly known as Paytm

Delhi excise policy: ED may issue summons to CM Kejriwal for 7th time

The Enforcement Directorate is expected to issue fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in the excise policy case, official sources said. The ED sources claimed that a local court recently held Kejriwal guilty of "disobeying" the earlier notices issued to him, warranting the seventh summons. Kejriwal, 55, refused to depose before the federal agency for the sixth time on Monday with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) saying the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to the CM, also the party's national convenor. A Delhi court on February 17 had granted exemption to Kejriwal from personal appearance for the day in connection with the complaint filed by the central agency for disobeying its summons in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. The court posted the matter for March 16 and Kejriwal's counsel assured the court of his physical appearance that day. ED sources said the agency had filed a complaint before

ED claims court accepted offence by Arvind Kejriwal for refusing summons

The complaint was filed against Kejriwal for intentionally disobeying the first three summons issued to him, sources said

Delhi excise policy case: CM Kejriwal skips ED summons for sixth time

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Monday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, the AAP said. Terming the agency's sixth summons to its national convener as "illegal", the party said that the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had approached a city court after Kejriwal skipped multiple summonses. On Saturday, the court had granted exemption to Kejriwal from personal appearance for the day in connection with the complaint filed by the central agency. The application moved by Kejriwal's counsel stated that the Budget Session of the Delhi assembly has commenced on February 15 and shall continue till the first week of March. He will physically appear before the court on the next date of hearing on March 16, it said.

Shivraj, Raje may form own parties if ED stopped, says Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Sunday claimed that if the ED was stopped and section 45 of the PMLA abolished, no one would cross over to the BJP and its leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje may form their own political outfits. Chouhan and Raje were overlooked by the BJP for the chief minister posts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively despite ensuring the party's return to power in the assembly polls held recently. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge by his side, Kejriwal responded to a question on opposition leaders joining the BJP, saying, "Today, if the ED (Enforcement Directorate) is stopped and section 45 of the PMLA (The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act) is abolished, half of the BJP leaders will quit the party." "There is only one agency (ED) which is responsible for leaders joining the BJP. No one will join the BJP if PMLA section 45 is removed. Leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje may form their own parties by the ...

Waqf Board money laundering case: AAP MLA moves court for anticipatory bail

Earlier on February 7, the Delhi High Court dismissed AAP MLA Amanat Ullah Khan's plea against the summons of ED in the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case