Investment fraud: Properties worth ₹207cr attached

Investment fraud: Properties worth ₹207cr attached

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:26.01.2021

Enforcement Directorate, Chennai, provisionally attached 1,081 immovable properties spread across 3,850 acres worth ₹207 crore in Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Chennai in a money laundering case where the accused allegedly defrauded public in the guise of investment.

The attached assets are in the name of M/s Disc Assets Lead India Ltd, M/s Eagles Eye Real Estates, M/s Meadow Realtors and its key managerial personnel.

The investigation was initiated by Economic Offences wing of TN police who booked a criminal conspiracy and cheating case against M/s Disc Agrotech Ltd, Disc Assets Promoters Ltd, Disc Asset Lead India Ltd and its directors V Janarthanan, N Umashankar, N Arunkumar, C Srinivasan, T Shyamchander and S Jeevalatha in 2006. They had allegedly collected money from public in various parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala promising them land in return. The money was collected in instalments.

ED initiated a case under Provision of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on TN police’s FIR.

Investigation by the central agency revealed that the directors of the company had floated many entities like Dal Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd and Aiyan Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd to collect money from public on behalf of Disc Assets Lead India Ltd to circumvent legal impediments of the SEBI Act. The total money collected amounted to ₹1,273 crore.

Investigation under PMLA by ED revealed that the invested amount collected from depositors was utilised in purchase of immovable properties in Tamil Nadu in the name of the company, its directors and other unrelated entities.

A major portion of the collected amount was siphoned off by the directors of the company through entities which were floated by them with their close relatives as directors or partners. The accused persons had cheated their depositors by neither allotting them land nor returning their investment.