An authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 held that several propertiesworth crore of rupees which has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), are money laundering assets and it further ordered that the attachment should continue. The property belonged to Mehul Choksi, a diamond jeweller who had absconded. At present, Choksi is in Caribbean nation and India has been seeking extradition from that country.
The central agency has attached several properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA) in respect of the fraud worth rupees 2 billion alleged at a Mumbai branch of Punjab National Bank(PNB).
Member of the authority held that the assets attached are involved in money laundering and therefore the assets shall stay attached during the period of investigation for not exceeding ninety days or during the pendency of proceedings relating to any offence under the PMLA before a final order is passed by the court.
It has been disclosed by the official authorities that the ED will seize the properties and put up the possession signages at the locations. The central agency issued an order for the attachment of several assets as a part of investigation against Choksi, which included his company and firms and associates, under PMLA. It has been revealed by ED that property worth rupees 1210 crore has been attached by it.
After the fraud came into light, Choksi and several other businessman jewellers, like Nirav Modi are being investigated by ED and other agencies. A complaint has been filed by the PNB, wherein it was alleged that they have cheated the Nationalized Bank with involvement of several employees.Two FIRs have been registered against Choksi and Modi to investigate the case. Both had absconded before criminal cases were lodged against them and they further denied the allegations.
Thus, the ED is now investigating if the funds were laundered and if the proceeds of the crime have been used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.
Courtesy/By: Kritika Mehandiratta
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03 Sep 2018
