ED attaches over Rs 1,300 cr worth assets
In money laundering case against realty group IREO, promoters
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth more than Rs 1,317 crore of real estate group IREO, its managing director and vice president Lalit Goyal and associated entities as part of a money laundering investigation.
The attached properties include land, commercial spaces, plots, residential houses and bank accounts, the federal agency said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The total value of these attached properties is Rs 1,317.30 crore.
The ED took cognisance of at least 30 FIRs filed in various police stations located in Gurugram, Panchkula, Ludhiana and Delhi against the group, linked entities, its directors, key managerial persons and others, to file a money laundering case.
The probe found, the agency said, that the accused allegedly "duped" innocent buyers by promising them to deliver flats, plots, commercial spaces etc.However, they neither delivered the projects nor returned their money.
The directors of the company in connivance with others "siphoned off" money collected from buyers and did not use for the intended purpose.
It said they sent this money outside India in the form of buy-back of shares, redemptions, FCDs etc. and giving loans and advances to associated entities/persons, giving excessive incentives and advances to key managerial persons to "fudge" the books of account, who in turn invested it in purchasing immovable properties and shares of various companies within and outside the country, the ED alleged.
Goyal was arrested by the agency in November last year in this case and later it filed a charge sheet before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Panchkula in January.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
