Page 59 - Enforcement Directorate

Arvind Kejriwal issued fresh summons by ED in Delhi excise policy case

The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on December 21 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said Monday. He was first called by the federal agency to appear on November 2, but he did not depose alleging that the notice was "vague, motivated and unsustainable in law". The summons to Kejriwal, the national convenor of AAP, pertain to questioning in the alleged Delhi excise policy case and for recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said. It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge repeatedly refuted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA. Delhi

ED attaches immovable properties worth over Rs 200 cr across Tamil Nadu

As per officials, the crackdown was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA) 2002

ED attaches Madurai firm's assets worth Rs 207 cr in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said it has attached immovable properties worth Rs 207 crore located in Tamil Nadu as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged fraud perpetrated by a Madurai-based group. The ED investigation stems from an FIR registered by Tamil Nadu Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The police FIR was registered following complaints lodged by investors against Neomax Properties Pvt. Ltd. and its group companies that allegedly "cheated several investors into depositing lakhs of money in various projects (plot development) by promising high returns with 12-30 per cent interest", the ED said in a statement. The company and its promoters "failed" to fulfil their promise, it claimed. Neomax group of companies collected funds from the public running into hundreds of crores and cheated them by "diverting" these funds to shell entities, group companies and other entities (outside the group), the ED said. The group "manipulated" its books of account

Chinese visa case: Karti Chidambaram calls ED probe 'fishing' inquiry

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has sought exemption from appearing before the ED on Saturday, on fresh summons issued to him in a money laundering case linked to issuance of visa to some Chinese nationals in 2011, stating that the probe was a "fishing and roving" inquiry and that he required time to collect documents. The federal agency had first asked the 52-year-old legislator from Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu to depose before the investigating officer of the case on December 12 in Delhi. After the MP cited his engagement in the ongoing Parliament session, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) asked him to appear on December 16. The 2022 ED case pertains to allegations of Rs 50 lakh being paid as kickbacks to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), which was setting up a power plant in Punjab, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The money laundering case stems from the CBI

ED attaches land worth over Rs 193 cr in Srinagar in JKSCB loan fraud case

A land in Srinagar worth more than Rs 193 crore has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money laundering law as part of an investigation into a loan fraud involving the Jammu and Kashmir State Cooperative Bank (JKSCB). A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to freeze the asset, which measures 257.19 kanal and is located in the Shivpora area of Srinagar, the federal agency said in a statement. The value of the property is Rs 193.46 crore, it said. The agency, earlier this month, had arrested former JKSCB chairman Mohammad Shafi Dar and Mohammad Hilal A Mir, the chairman of the River Jhelum Cooperative House Building Society, a "fictitious firm", as part of the investigation. They are in judicial custody till December 20. The PMLA case pertains to an alleged fraud in sanctioning of a loan to the tune of Rs 250 crore (disbursement amount Rs 223 crore) in 2019 to the River Jehlum Co-operative House Building Societ

ED searches in Delhi-NCR, Punjab against Chandigarh-based Parabolic Drugs

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted fresh searches at about a dozen locations in the Delhi-NCR and Punjab as part of a money laundering investigation against a Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical company and its promoters linked to an alleged bank fraud, official sources said. The first round of searches in this case against the company -- Parabolic Drugs-- were carried out in October. The central agency had earlier arrested Parabolic Drugs promoters Vineet Gupta (54) and Pranav Gupta (56), who are also the co-founders of the Sonepat-based Ashoka University, and CA Surjeet Kumar Bansal (74) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Guptas stepped down from their posts at Ashoka University in 2022 after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against them and the company in 2021 for their alleged involvement in a bank loan fraud of Rs 1,626 crore. The ED filed a money laundering case against them in January last year. The

Mahadev app case: Actor Sahil Khan, 3 others summoned for questioning today

In the Mahadev betting app case, there are allegations of fraud of 15,000 crore rupees along with match-fixing, illegal hawala, and cryptocurrency transactions

ED attaches assets worth Rs 6.79 cr in case involving cheating in 4 states

The assets were attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, which include bank balances worth Rs 0.75 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 6.04 crore

Mahadev betting app case: Everything known about the Rs 6k cr scam so far

Authorities in Dubai have detained one of the masterminds behind the scam, Ravi Uppal and will be deported to India soon

ED summons Karti Chidambaram in PMLA probe; MP calls it 'most bogus' case

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has not deposed before the ED for questioning in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the issuance of visas to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011 and dubbed the case "most bogus". The 52-year-old legislator from the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu was summoned by the central agency to appear this week at its office here and record his statement in the case being probed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The MP is understood to have informed the ED that he was occupied with the ongoing Parliament session. The 2022 ED case pertains to allegations of Rs 50 lakh being paid as kickbacks to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), which was setting up a power plant in Punjab, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The money laundering case stems from the CBI complaint. Karti told PTI that the case was "most bogus

BBC staff to launch Indian language services company in line with FDI norms

The broadcaster is under scrutiny for alleged foreign exchange violations in India and an investigation was launched shortly after tax authorities searched BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai in Feb

ED attached Rs 64,920 cr crime proceeds in bank frauds, arrested 150: Govt

The Enforcement Directorate has taken up 1,105 bank fraud cases, attached crime proceeds worth Rs 64,920 crore and arrested 150 people, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said the total number of wilful defaulters having outstanding loan of Rs 25 lakh and above from public sector banks rose to 14,159 at the end of March 2023, from 10,209 at the end of June 2019. In case of private sector banks, the number of such defaulters rose to 2,504 at the end of March 2023, from 1,950 at the end of June 2019. "As per inputs received from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), it has taken up around 1,105 bank fraud cases, including those pertain to willful defaulters, for investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMIA)." "Necessary action as per the provisions of PMLA has been taken, which resulted in attachment of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 64,920

Hemant Soren is neck-deep in corruption, behaving like monarch: BJP leader

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate summoned Soren in connection with the alleged land scam case

ED summons Jharkhand CM for questioning in money-laundering case on Tuesday

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam on Tuesday, official sources said. Soren has been asked to depose at the federal agency's office here and get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said on Monday. The summons for the chief minister is for December 12, they added. This is the sixth notice issued to Soren, but he never deposed as he filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking protection from the ED action. The probe pertains to the ED alleging that a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by mafia was going on in Jharkhand". The agency has arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chhavi Ranjan who had earlier served as the director of the state social welfare department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi. The 48-year-old

Keeping me in custody serves no purpose, AAP's Sanjay Singh tells court

AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday urged a court here to release him, saying no purpose will be served by keeping him in further custody in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam. Singh's counsel made the submission before Special Judge M K Nagpal during the hearing of his bail application. He told the court that he was not required for further investigation and that the probe against him was over. "The ED has already filed its charge sheet against me after the completion of the investigation. I'm not required for the custodial interrogation any further. There is no purpose to keep me in further custody," Singh's counsel told the court. During the arguments, the ED said the probe was ongoing and if released on bail, Singh could hamper the investigation and tamper with the evidence as well as influence the witnesses. In the course of hearing on bail application, the fifth supplementary prosecution complaint filed against Singh was also taken out from a se

ED allegations false: Jet Airways founder seeks bail in bank fraud case

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, an accused in an alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore at state-run Canara Bank who is in jail for nearly three months, on Friday moved an application before a special court here seeking bail in the case. The court has asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the case, to file its reply to Goyal's plea by December 20. The 74-year-old businessman, in his plea seeking relief, has cited multiple health ailments like heart condition, prostate, orthopaedic-related issues, among others and claimed there are reasonable grounds to believe he "is not guilty. The entire investigation has been carried out only with the intention to allege and project siphoning (of funds) by the applicant for his personal benefits, said the plea filed before special PMLA court Judge M G Deshpande. From reading the complaint, it is more than clear that "false allegations have been made by the ED solely with a mala fide intention of projecting a negative image of Goyal", it ...

5 "potential witnesses" found against NewsClick founder, cops tells court

The Delhi Police arrested Purkayastha on October 3, alleging that Prabir Purkayastha conspired with a group called PADS to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls

ED files first charge sheet against Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, others

The Enforcement Directorate filed its first charge sheet in connection with its money laundering probe against Chinese smartphone maker vivo and some others, official sources said on Thursday. The prosecution complaint has been filed before a special court here on Wednesday under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and vivo-India has been named an accused apart from those arrested in this case, the sources told PTI. The federal probe agency arrested four persons, including the MD of the Lava International mobile company Hari Om Rai, in this investigation. The others who were taken into custody were Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik. The ED had then claimed in its remand papers before a local court here that the alleged activities of the four enabled vivo-India to make wrongful gains that were detrimental to the economic sovereignty of India. It had raided vivo-India and its linked person

PSBs given Rs 15,000 crore on ED action, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister said that over last two financial years, the number of non-performing asset accounts in the commercial banks have declined from 2.19 cr to 2.06 cr, showing decrease of 6 per cent

PSBs get back Rs 15,183 cr following ED action under PMLA: Sitharaman

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confiscated assets worth Rs 15,186.64 crore under the stringent prevention of money laundering law and almost all of these have been restituted to public sector banks, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Replying to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said specific actions through various legal provisions are being taken against defaulters and as a result, "huge monies" are going back to the banks. Sitharaman informed the House that as of March 31, 2023, legal suits were filed for recovery against 13,978 loan accounts, action under the SARFAESI Act has been initiated in 11,483 cases, FIRs have been filed in 5,674 cases, and an aggregate amount of Rs 33,801 crore has been recovered. "As of December 1, 2023, assets amounting to Rs 15,186.64 crores under the PMLA have been confiscated by the ED out of which Rs 15,183.77 crores have been restituted to the Public Sector Banks," she said. Chair