The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches against GVK Group and Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) and others in connection with alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 705 crore in operating the Mumbai airport.

The multi-location searches were carried out at nine premises in Mumbai and Hyderabad under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.

The agency’s search operation covered the offices of the GVK group, MIAL and the premises of GVK group promoters, they said.

The ED had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (FIR IN police parlance) on July 7 under the PMLA after taking cognisance of a recent CBI FIR filed against the same set of individuals and entities as money laundering is a predicate offence.

The ED is probing if genuine funds were laundered to create “proceeds of crime” and amass personal assets by illegal routing of funds by the accused.

The ED and CBI case pertain to the alleged siphoning off Rs 705 crore from the funds of MIAL, a joint venture under public-private partnership (PPP) between the GVK Airport Holdings Limited and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) besides other investors, by showing inflated expenditure, under-reporting of revenues, fudging of records among others.

Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Gunupati, a director in MIAL, his son GV Sanjay Reddy, managing director in MIAL, the companies—MIAL, GVK Airport Holdings Limited (a GVK group company) and nine other private companies allegedly used to camouflage the inflated figures through sham deals and unidentified AAI officials (public servants).

On April 4, 2006, the AAI had entered into an agreement with MIAL for the modernisation, upkeep, operation and maintenance of the Mumbai airport.