The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 99.26 crore linked to the Amrapali Group for allegedly diverting and misappropriating homebuyers’ funds. The action was taken under the PMLA following multiple FIRs and a Supreme Court order
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In fresh action against real estate giant Amrapali Group, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 99.26 crore for fraudulently diverting and misappropriating homebuyers’ funds, an official said on Saturday.
As reported by news agency IANS, the immovable properties attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, include the office and factory land and building of Mauria Udyog Ltd. Mauria Udyog Ltd is one of the entities of the Sureka Group, whose promoters are Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka.
The investigation agency, while issuing a statement, said that the aggregate fair market value of the seized office and factory land and building was Rs. 99.26 crore as of December 30, 2016, as per IANS.
The ED has now passed a total of six Provisional Attachment Orders, including the present one, under Section 5(1) of the PMLA, 2002, attaching properties having a cumulative value of Rs 303.08 crore.
The ED, Lucknow Zonal Office, initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered at different police stations in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, and EOW, Delhi Police, and also pursuant to a Supreme Court order.
Earlier, on July 23, 2019, the Supreme Court passed the order in the Bikram Chatterji versus Union of India matter that was related to petitions filed by aggrieved homebuyers.
Allegations on Amrapali Groups
The allegations were that the Amrapali Group collected huge sums of money from homebuyers, failed to deliver possession of flats within the stipulated time, and fraudulently diverted and misappropriated the homebuyers’ funds by adopting a criminal conspiracy involving bogus transactions, forgery and cheating.
As per IANS, the investigation agency also revealed that the accused persons, their associates and promoters, namely Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar, directors of the Amrapali Group, in connivance with Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka, directors of Mauria Udyog and Jotindra Steel and Tubes Ltd, diverted homebuyers’ funds through non-genuine and fraudulent transactions under the guise of procurement of TMT bars and construction material.
The ED also said that the funds that were misused by the accused were layered through a complex web of shell entities and bogus suppliers, withdrawn substantially in cash and irreversibly dissipated, thereby generating and laundering the Proceeds of Crime (POC).
However, it has been established that an amount of Rs 110.39 crore was diverted to Mauria Udyog, representing POC generated from the money collected from Amrapali homebuyers.
As the original proceeds of crime were dissipated and no longer available for direct attachment, the ED has attached the immovable properties of Mauria Udyog on the principle of “value thereof” under the PMLA, 2002, in order to secure the POC.
So far, the ED has filed six prosecution complaints in this case, arraigning 33 individuals and entities as accused, as per IANS.
(With inputs from IANS)
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