The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs. 75 crore of a borrower company and its associates as part of the money-laundering probe in the National Spot Exchange Limited scam case.
This is the first attachment order issued by the agency, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sources said the assets belonged to Mohan India and its group companies —— Tavishi Enterprises Private Limited and Brinda Commodity Private Limited — which owe the investors Rs. 922 crore.
They were one of the largest borrowers in the businesses of this exchange, the sources said.
The agency had conducted searches on the premises of the company on October 31 and sealed a number of them in Mumbai, the National Capital Region, Lucknow, Punjab and Chandigarh.
The sources said the ED suspected that the firm laundered huge sums generated from the operations at the NSEL, and its investigations suggested these funds were ploughed into real estate and other businesses.
A flat at Delhi’s Jor Bagh, a villa at Gurgaon, a farmhouse at Kapashera, a flat at Mumbai and a few other locations in the National Capital Region were searched and attached. The order can be challenged before the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA within 180 days.
The ED found no sugar stocks in the name of the firm, which were reflected in the original documents. — PTI
