Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third consecutive day on Thursday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in a 2008 Haryana land deal. The ED has been investigating Vadra in connection with a land deal in Haryana's Manesar-Shikohpur, where a company he was a director of purchased land from Onkareshwar Properties and later sold it to DLF for a significantly higher price. The case has been embroiled in controversy since 2012, with allegations of corruption and nepotism surrounding the deal. The ED is expected to file chargesheets in all three cases being investigated against Vadra.
Absconding diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi has been detained in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies for his alleged involvement in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan 'fraud' case, official sources said Monday. The action against the diamantaire was taken on Saturday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a five-star hotel in Delhi following a brief scuffle. Chhoker, along with his sons, is accused of defrauding over 1,500 homebuyers and siphoning off over Rs 500 crore through their real-estate companies. The ED had been seeking Chhoker's presence in the investigation since May 2022. The politician was caught at the Grappa Bar of the Shangri-La hotel on Ashoka Road. He is currently in ED custody for six days.
In another retrospective change, which forms part of the Securities Laws Amendment Ordinance promulgated by the President of India last week, the individuals and companies being probed by Sebi can settle their pending investigations.
The probe, being conducted under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, is against the Kallal Group and the UK-based Lyca group and its Indian companies Lyca Productions and Lyca Hotels, it said.
Terrorist Adil Wani's father and three brothers were arrested for sheltering him.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth over Rs 14 crore belonging to the Gitanjali Group and its promoter and jeweller Mehul Choksi, one of the prime accused in the alleged over Rs 13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. The properties attached, under the anti-money laundering law, include a flat measuring 1,460 sq feet located at O2 Tower in Goregaon area of Mumbai, gold and platinum jewellery, diamond stones, necklaces made of silver and pearls, watches and a Mercedes Benz car, the ED said in a statement. A provisional order for attachment has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the assets worth a total Rs 14.45 crore that are in the name of Gitanjali Group of companies and its director Mehul Choksi, it said.
A 61-year-old lawyer suffering from cancer was found dead inside her house in Noida in a posh locality, with the police Monday arresting her former Indian Information Service (IIS) officer husband and charged him with the murder.
Your high expectations and attachment to certain property can make you buy property which is not financially suitable.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the premises of Rajasthan Congress leader and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Punjab AAP MLA Kulwant Singh as part of a money laundering probe linked to the Rs 48,000-crore PACL Ponzi scam. Khachariyawas, who served as a minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, claimed the ED action was politically motivated due to his criticism of the government. Singh, a real estate promoter, is reported to be Punjab's richest MLA with assets worth Rs 1,000 crore. The ED has been investigating the PACL scam since 2015, alleging that the company defrauded investors of Rs 48,000 crore through fraudulent investment schemes.
A vacation bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi said that prima facie the Allahabad high court's bail condition imposed on Khan is disproportionate and sounds like a decree of a civil court.
The Delhi high court on Thursday upheld the Singapore Emergency Arbitrator's (EA) order restraining Future Retail Ltd (FRL) from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail to sell its business, which was objected to by US-based e-commence giant Amazon.
Tightening its noose around Canada-based 'designated individual terrorist' Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) confiscated a house and land of the self-styled general counsel of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit in Punjab's Amritsar and the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Saturday, an official said.
Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, was extradited to India to face charges related to his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The US Department of Justice said Rana allegedly commended the LeT terrorists who carried out the attacks and suggested they should be awarded Pakistan's highest gallantry award. Rana is accused of facilitating a fraudulent cover for his childhood friend, David Headley, to conduct surveillance in Mumbai for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. He is also accused of helping Headley submit false visa applications to Indian authorities. This extradition follows a lengthy legal process that began in 2020 with India's request for Rana's surrender. Rana, who was previously convicted in the US for providing material support to LeT, will now face trial in India on 10 criminal charges related to the Mumbai attacks.
The agency said in a statement that a provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act "attaching bank accounts of Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and Indians for Amnesty International Trust (IAIT)".
Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday said it has lined up three properties of Saradha Group of Companies for an auction on December 16, at a reserve price of Rs 5.21 crore. The move is part of Sebi's efforts to recover money raised by the company from the public through illicit schemes. In a notice, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said the auction will be conducted between 11 am to 12 pm on December 16, 2022. The properties to go under the hammer include land parcels located in West Bengal.
The properties include Goawala compound and a commercial unit in Mumbai's suburban Kurla (West) 147.79-acre agricultural land located in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra and three flats in Kurla (West).
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed to freeze and attach assets and properties of Videocon promoters following a petition by the ministry of corporate affairs. The NCLT Mumbai bench has directed the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) that securities owned or held by the Videocon promoters "in any company or society be frozen, and be prohibited from being transferred or alienation" and the details be shared with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). It directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to disclose information about all assets of the Videocon promoters in their knowledge or possession, for the purpose of freezing and restraining such assets.
Delhi deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been named as an accused in the case.
The Karnataka High Court has quashed the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B M and Urban Development Minister B S Suresh in connection with the MUDA site allotment case. The court ruled that the ED was conducting a parallel investigation despite the case already being probed by the Lokayukta police and a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The ED had alleged that Siddaramaiah and other accused were involved in attempted money laundering in the MUDA site allotment case and that the fourteen sites (plots) allotted to Parvathi in Mysuru upmarket were illegally allotted.
Markets regulator Sebi on Friday said it has lined up as many as 69 properties of Saradha Group of Companies for an auction on November 1 at a reserve price of Rs 30 crore. The move is part of Sebi's efforts to recover money raised by the company from public through illicit schemes. In a notice, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said the auction will be conducted between 11 am to 1 pm on November 1, 2022.
The house has been attached under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
India's Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, has announced a 71% decrease in terrorist incidents in the country under the Modi government. He credits a "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism, which has resulted in no terror incidents in the hinterland. Rai also highlighted the National Investigative Agency's (NIA) successes, including the investigation of cases on foreign land and a conviction rate of 95.54%.
The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached gems, jewellery and bank deposits worth Rs 253.62 crore of some Hong Kong-based companies of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi as part of a money laundering probe. Some assets of Nirav Modi group of companies in Hong Kong were identified in the form of gems and jewelleries lying in private vaults and bank balances in accounts maintained there and these have been provisionally attached under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal probe agency said in a statement. The amount kept in banks amounts to $30.98 million and Hong Kong dollars 5.75 million, which is equivalent to Rs 253.62 crore (as on July 22, 2022), it said.
According to NIA sources, the Canadian government asked for the reason for NIA behind its request to seek the death certificate of Nijjar.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday booked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some others in a money-laundering case linked to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, taking cognisance of a recent state Lokayukta first information report (FIR), official sources said.
The government on Tuesday announced central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore over the next five years to meet housing requirement of 1 crore urban poor and middle class families under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban and proposed interest subsidy to provide loans at affordable rates. In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore." "This will include the central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years," she added.
The attached properties include three commercial assets based in Dubai, a Mercedes Benz car and a number of fixed deposits in bank accounts in the country and outside, the agency said.
The attached assets include 15 commercial and residential properties belonging to the 'family members' of Mirchi. They include a hotel called Midwest Hotel Apartment, the ED said. They are valued at Rs 203.27 crore and have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the central probe agency said in a statement.
Customised restaurant recreations, cafe setups, pop-ups by Michelin-star chefs, bespoke table linens with monograms and couple-themed hashtags.
Assets include Kalanithi Maran's shares worth Rs 139 cr in Sun Direct.
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the legal issue of whether the Enforcement Directorate can attach ancestral properties of the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as 'proceeds of crime.'
Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has said that he will pursue relief for the Enforcement Directorate and banks taking more than two times the debt he owed. His remarks came following a statement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament about recovery of over Rs 14,130 crore from his attached assets.
The 56-year-old Raju admitted to fraud in January 2009 in the IT major.
Shridhar Madhav Patankar, the brother of Thackeray's wife Rashmi, "owns and controls" Shree Saibaba Grihanirmiti Private Limited, it said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over Rs 757 crore of one of the country's most known multi-level marketing (MLM) and direct-selling companies, Amway India, as part of a money-laundering investigation. The central agency issued a statement on Monday, alleging that the company was perpetrating a "scam" by running a pyramid "fraud" in the guise of direct-selling MLM network. "The entire focus of the company is about propagating how members can become rich by becoming members. There is no focus on the products. "Products are used to masquerade this MLM pyramid fraud as a direct-selling company," the ED alleged.
Alleging that the Centre is abusing the Central agencies to pressure the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the ruling dispensation and every individual associated will slug it out without any fear.
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law B M Mallikarjun Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police establishment, located in Mysuru on September 27, following the order of the Special Court that exclusively deals with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs.
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