The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth nearly Rs 240 crore of a firm linked to TMC MP KD Singh in connection with a money laundering case relating to alleged Ponzi scam involving an amount of over Rs 1,900 crore.
The properties seized by the ED included a resort in Kufri, a showroom in Chandigarh, properties in Panchkula and Haryana, and bank accounts.
The ED’s probe against Singh and his firm Ms Alchemist Infra Realty Limited dates back to September 2016 when it filed a criminal case under the PMLA taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed against the company, its directors and others by market regulator SEBI.
Investigation conducted by ED revealed that the Proceeds of Crime generated by Alchemist Infra Realty Ltd was allegedly laundered through the web of companies. Investigations also revealed that the funds mobilised by Alchemist Infra Realty from various investors were never utilised for the purpose for which they were collected and the same were transferred to the bank accounts of other group companies which were mainly paper companies from where they were systematically siphoned off by the accused and used to purchase properties at various locations in the country, the ED said in a statement.
“All such assets in Punjab, Haryana, Shimla and bank accounts in HDFC Bank worth Rs 239.39 identified during the course of investigations, have been provisionally attached,” according to the statement.
The agency said it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attaching properties situated at various places like Chandigarh, Panchkula, Derabassi, SAS Nagar (Punjab), Shimla and also bank accounts in HDFC Bank against Alchemist Infra Realty Ltd.
The ED had last year summoned the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, now sidelined in the Trinamool Congress (TMC), as part of these investigations.
The agencies have alleged that the company launched an illegal collective investment scheme, also called a ponzi or chit fund scheme, and mobilised funds to the tune of Rs 1,916 crore from the public in the years preceding 2015.
The firm allegedly launched the scheme “without the approval” of the SEBI and led to cheating of gullible investors.