Page 61 - Enforcement Directorate

Queries received in ED's notice are solely technical in nature: Byju's

Byju's said the notice was sent on delayed annual performance reports related to overseas direct investments of Rs 8,000 crore

Delhi High Court grants bail to Avtar Singh Kochar in ED, Mcoca case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Avtar Singh Kochar in the money laundering as well as in the MCOCA case

Lessons from ED's crackdown on Byju's, Xiaomi to strengthen compliance

Experts are also of view that severe fines, penalties will push companies and startups to ensure their adherence to the regulatory framework when accepting foreign investments and issuing remittances

Delhi court seeks ED's reply on Sanjay Singh's bail plea by Dec 6

A Delhi court on Tuesday directed the ED to file by December 6 its reply to an application by AAP MP Sanjay Singh seeking bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal issued notice to the central probe agency on the application, which claimed that no purpose will be served by keeping Singh in further custody. The judge also directed the ED to provide a copy of the reply to the accused. The anti-money laundering agency had arrested Singh on October 4. The ED has alleged that Singh played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped policy, which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, for monetary considerations. Singh has strongly refuted the allegations.

PMLA proceedings can't continue for quashed scheduled offences: Delhi HC

Prosecution for money laundering cannot continue for a scheduled offence under an FIR which is compounded and quashed, the Delhi High Court has said. It, however, clarified that the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in such a case cannot be quashed completely if there is another FIR with respect to the same cause of action to legitimise the existence of the money laundering probe. The high court's order came on a petition by a money laundering accused seeking to quash the ECIR registered against him on the basis of two Delhi Police FIRs in connection with alleged siphoning funds collected by him for the development of a real-estate project. The petitioner said the jurisdictional fact which formed the basis of the ED investigation has now come to an end with the compounding and quashing of the FIRs pursuant to a settlement, and hence, the ECIR and the subsequent proceedings cannot continue any longer. The ED opposed the petition on the ..

Suvendu Adhikari alleges scam in purchase of PPE kits; demand probe

The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday wrote to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging a scam in the purchase of PPE kits and other medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.Taking to his official handle on social media platform X, Adhikari shared a detailed post informing that he had written to the director, ED, principal director general of the Income Tax Department and secretary, Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, seeking an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits."A huge financial scam was executed in WB during the Covid Pandemic period, with regard to the purchase of PPE kits and other medical equipment by the WB Health Department. Huge funds were provided by the Central Govt at that time to bolster the efforts to fight against the virus collectively," Adhikari posted from his official X handle."I have written a letter to the Director; .

ED searches realty major DLF in money laundering case against Supertech

The Enforcement Directorate has searched the premises of realty major DLF in Gurugram as part of a money laundering investigation against real estate firm Supertech and its promoters, official sources said Saturday. The central agency has recovered some documents during the action that was carried out over the past few days, they said. The action is linked to the ED investigation against Supertech, the sources said. An email sent by PTI to DLF did not elicit an immediate response. The ED had arrested Supertech promoter R K or Ram Kishor Arora in this case in June. It had then alleged that Arora was the main controlling person of the group who decided to "divert" crores of funds of investors and homebuyers to various shell companies. The money laundering case, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from as many as 26 FIRs registered by the police departments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh against Supertech Limited and its gro

Kerala HC allows ED to summon CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac in KIIFB case

The Kerala High Court has granted permission to the Enforcement Directorate to issue fresh summons to senior CPI(M) leader Thomas Isaac, allowing the agency to continue its investigation into alleged violations in the financial dealings of KIIFB during his tenure as the state Finance Minister in the previous LDF government. In an interim order dated November 24, the high court clarified that this decision is subject to further orders from the court and scheduled the matter for further consideration on December 1. The court issued this order in response to a plea filed by Isaac, who sought the quashing of the two summons issued to him by the ED. These summons are part of the agency's probe into alleged violations in the financial dealings of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). "...the pendency of these writ petitions will not stand in the way of the ED issuing fresh summons to any person, including the petitioners, and to continue the investigation; however, ...

Mahadev app: 'Courier' alleges frame-up, denies delivering cash to anyone

An alleged courier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Mahadev betting app case on Friday submitted before a special court here that he had been framed up as part of a conspiracy and he had never delivered cash to politicians. Asim Das, the alleged cash courier, and constable Bhim Singh Yadav were arrested by the ED on November 3, four days before the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections. The duo were on Friday produced before Ajay Singh Rajput, a special judge for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases, upon expiry of their judicial remand, Das's lawyer Shoaib Alvi told PTI. The court extended their judicial custody for seven days, he added. Das had written a letter from the jail to the Director of the ED and also sent copies to higher authorities including the Prime Minister's Office on November 17 stating that he was being implicated in the case and the central investigating agency forced him to sign a statement in English, a language he does not

AAP leader Satyendar Jain's interim bail extended by SC till December 4

The Supreme Court on Friday extended the interim bail granted to former Delhi minister Satyendar Kumar Jain in a money laundering case till December 4 when his plea for regular bail will be taken up for hearing. A bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi posted the matter for hearing on December 4 as Justice A S Bopanna, who is presiding over the case, was not available today. "In the meanwhile, the interim bail, granted earlier, is extended till the next date of hearing, the bench said. Prior to this, the top court had extended the interim bail of Jain till October 9 and asked him to not make the pendency of the proceedings before it a ruse to delay the trial in the case. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the AAP leader was seeking repeated adjournments in the trial court on grounds that his bail plea was pending before the apex court. The probe agency has alleged that Jain has taken as many as 16 dates from the trial court. The apex court had on May 26 granted interim bail to

SC defers hearing on pleas for reconsideration of 2022 PMLA verdict

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned by eight weeks the hearing on pleas seeking reconsideration of its July 27, 2022 verdict, which had upheld the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) powers to arrest and attach property under the PMLA. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul deferred the hearing, which continued since Wednesday, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought time to address the arguments raised by the petitioners in detail. The bench also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi allowed the amendment application moved by the petitioner's side, by which various 'new aspects' have been raised, and asked the Centre to file its reply within four weeks. The apex court said that the rejoinder to the Centre's reply be filed within four weeks thereafter. "The deferment will leave really no time for this court to pen down the order," the bench said, adding, "the Chief Justice of India will have to reconstitute the bench, i

ED summons actor Prakash Raj in case linked to Rs 100 crore 'ponzi scam'

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned actor Prakash Raj for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged Rs 100 crore ponzi and fraud case against a Tiruchirapalli-based jewellery group, official sources said Thursday. The investigation pertains to a case against Pranav Jewellers, a partnership firm based in Tiruchirapalli, whom it had raided on November 20 and claimed to have seized "unexplained" cash of Rs 23.70 lakh and some gold jewellery. Raj (58) has been a brand ambassador of this company. He has been asked to depose before the federal agency in Chennai next week. The actor, who has played various roles in Hindi and South Indian movies, has been an outspoken critic of the BJP. The ED case stems from an FIR of the Tamil Nadu Police Economic Offences Wing. According to the police complaint, Pranav Jewellers and others collected Rs 100 crore from the public under the guise of a gold investment scheme with the promise of high returns, the federal agency said in

Vivo PMLA case: Delhi Court extends judicial custody of accused till Dec 7

he four accused are -- Lava International MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik

Money laundering charges are not ground to deny passport renewal: Court

Merely being prosecuted on money laundering charges is not a sufficient ground to deny permission for passport renewal, a special court here has said while granting nod to former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh's son to apply for renewal of his passport. Special Judge R N Rokade on Wednesday allowed the application filed by Salil Deshmukh, seeking a direction to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to return his seized passport so that he can apply for renewal. The ED has accused Salil Deshmukh along with his father - former state home minister Anil Deshmukh - and some others of money laundering. Salil Deshmukh was not formally arrested in the case by the ED. After the agency named him as an accused in its chargesheet, he appeared before the special court which granted him bail in November 2022. In his application, Salil Deshmukh said his passport expired in January 2022. He sought permission to apply for renewal of the passport for a period of 10 years. The agency opposed the ple

Probe in Mahadev betting app scam transferred to Mumbai Crime branch

Mumbai Police registered a case against 32 people, including the director of Dabur, Gaurav Burman and company chairman Mohit Burman, alleging a connection to the betting app scam

ED files fresh chargesheet against Sanjay Bhandari in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a fresh charge sheet against alleged middleman and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, currently based in the UK, and others as part of a money laundering investigation against them, official sources said. The supplementary prosecution complaint has been filed in a local court and under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The agency has named Bhandari, his relative S Chadha and NRI businessman C C Thampi in the charge sheet, the sources said. The court is expected to take cognisance of this complaint later this week. The first charge sheet against Bhandari was filed by the ED in 2020. Bhandari is stated by the ED to have "absconded" to the UK in 2016 and he has been declared a proclaimed offender by a special PMLA court in the money laundering case linked to possession of alleged undisclosed assets abroad. The UK government approved Bhandari's extradition to India in January this year, acting o

Decoding the ED: Understanding its history, powers, and criticism

The ED is often in the news, sometimes for raids or cases against political leaders in the country and sometimes for acting against corporate entities. But what is the ED? We explain it here

Gandhis must pay for sins: BJP on ED's attachment of National Herald assets

The BJP on Wednesday hit back at the Congress over its condemnation of the seizure of National Herald assets, as the ruling party asserted that the Gandhi family must pay for its "sins". Former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Gandhi family of capturing National Herald assets by converting the now-defunct newspaper's properties into its "personal properties". An online version of the publication is, however, available. Addressing a press conference, Prasad asked the Congress to explain as to how the action taken against "rank dishonesty and loot of public property" can be described as negation of democracy. After the ED attached assets of the Congress-promoted National Herald on Tuesday, the Congress said such "petty vendetta tactics" cannot frighten it and dubbed the probe agency a "coalition partner" of the BJP. Its leader K C Venugopal slammed the BJP and the probe agencies as "murderers of democracy". Prasad said the newspaper had prime properties

Shareholders do not become owners: Sibal on ED order on Herald case

Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over ED's action to attach properties worth 751 crores in the National Herald Case

Edtech major Byju's faces ED heat for Rs 9.4k crore 'forex violation'

Legal proceedings against the edtech firm have begun