3 chargesheeted for duping foreign nationals

Money-laundering probe based on FIR registered by Goa police

May 10, 2021 05:54 pm | Updated 06:02 pm IST - NEW DELHI

13/07/2016 MUMBAI:  Enforcement Directorate office  in Mumbai. Photo: Paul Noronha

13/07/2016 MUMBAI: Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai. Photo: Paul Noronha

The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against three persons and a company for allegedly cheating foreign nationals on the pretext of investments in flats and villas located in Goa.

The accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar, Ankit Kumar, Synthia Durbhatkar Jain and Sanatan Financers & Real Estate Private Limited. The money-laundering probe is based on an FIR registered by the Goa police against the company and others, following receipt of complaints from several foreign nationals.

The ED found that Ankit and Sunil received about ₹7.73 crore from the victims, through the Foreign Direct Investment route, in the accounts of various shell companies incorporated by them. The funds were then laundered and credited to the bank accounts of Sanatan Financers & Real Estates. They were allegedly used for the construction of flats and villas in one “Peace Valley” project in Goa’s Quepem.

As it turned out, the foreign nationals were lured into investing funds in the shell companies on the pretext of selling to them flats and villas in Quepem. However, their ownerships were never transferred to them.

Based on the findings, the agency had last year attached 16 villas worth ₹2.56 crore and 56 flats worth ₹5.17 crore in Goa, while the balance amount in the bank accounts of Sanatan Financers & Real Estates was also attached. The ED had earlier arrested Ankit and conducted searches in the premises of the suspects.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.