ED attaches land, houses worth over Rs 137 crore in Bengaluru as part of money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 4 said it has attached land and residential properties worth over Rs 137 crore across Bengaluru as part of a money-laundering probe.

The attached immovable properties are in the form of land and residential houses in various places in Bengaluru, with present total value of Rs 137.60 crore. Further investigation is in progress, the ED said in a statement.

The ED has provisionally attached 16 immovable properties held in the names of Dreamz Infra India Ltd, TGS Constructions Pvt Ltd, Disha Choudhary, MD of Dreamz Infra India Ltd, Mandeep Kaur, MD of TGS Constructions Pvt Ltd, and others, on June 27 in connection with the Ponzi investment scheme run by them, it said in a statement.

The ED has initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of more than 125 FIRs registered in Bangalore city against Dreamz Infra, TGS Constructions, Gruha Kalyan, Sachin Naik alias Yogesh, Disha Choudhary, Mandeep Kaur, and others, it said.

An investigation by the ED revealed that the modus operandi adopted by these companies/persons was that they duped the common public by taking huge deposits promising affordable apartments in and around Bangalore.

It is revealed from the investigation that from the year 2011-12 to the year 2016-17, the accused entities/persons collected more than Rs 722 crore from more than 10,299 customers, misappropriated these funds for their own benefits, and deceived/cheated the gullible customers without handing over the flats and without refunding the deposit amounts to them. The accused persons further threatened the customers with dire consequences, the statement said.

The investigation by the ED further revealed that the main accused persons in the matter Sachin Naik, Disha Choudhary, Mandeep Kaur, and others layered the depositors’ money into various bank accounts, subsequently withdrawing the same in cash and diverting it to other unrelated businesses, and spending the same on making Bollywood movies, investing in IPL Team, throwing lavish parties, marriages, gifts, and investing in mutual funds in the name of their children, etc., without the knowledge of the depositors, the statement said.