The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has seized Indian and foreign currencies worth Rs 14 lakh and documents of foreign investments after raiding multiple premises in the national capital region as part of its probe into money a laundering case against real estate group IREO and others. The searches, launched on Monday, were carried out against arrested IREO vice-chairman and managing director Lalit Goyal and some linked persons in Delhi and Gurgaon.
According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the raids covered “business premises of IREO Pvt. Ltd, IDM Reality Pvt. Ltd, Madeira Conbuild Pvt. Ltd, Global Estate and others.”
The residential premises of their directors and associates such as Lalit Goyal, Jai Bharat Aggarwal, Anupam Nagalia, Madhukar Tulsi and chartered accountant Anil Kumar were also covered, it said.
“The search has resulted in the seizure of property documents and foreign investment papers, laptops, mobile phones and Indian and foreign currencies worth Rs 14 lakh,” the ED said in a statement.
The probe agency arrested Goyal on November 16 in the money laundering case linked to the alleged diversion of home buyers’ funds to the tune of Rs 2,600 crore. The arrest in Chandigarh came after Goyal was stopped by immigration authorities on November 11 at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport “while he was trying to leave the country”. He is at present under extended ED custody till November 26.
The ED said its criminal investigation against Goyal is based on FIRs filed by the Panchkula Police in Haryana and also by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police against companies like IREO Private Limited and IREO Fiveriver Private Limited, and Lalit Goyal, and others.
It had earlier said the group adopted a modus operandi that included “routing of funds from various entities based in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands and Mauritius; diversion of funds by way of buyback of equity shares; recording fictitious expenses in the books of accounts; writing off projects in progress; loans and advances to sister concerns; and round-tripping funds through shell companies”.
“Total funds involved are over Rs 2,600 crore, part of which is proceeds of crime,” the ED alleged. Goyal, it claimed, was a “settler and named beneficiary of a Guernsey-based overseas trust, which owns and controls entities holding assets outside India”.
It said the recent ‘Pandora Papers’ global leaks of offshore assets holdings by individuals and firms “also named four entities (which are beneficially owned by Lalit Goyal) having registered address in British Virgin Islands and holding assets having value more than USD 77.73 million (about Rs 575 crore)”. The businessman and his legal team had earlier denied any wrongdoing on their part, saying no fund was diverted abroad in violation of laws.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment