Mehul Choksi's properties are money laundering assets: PMLA Authority

A designated PMLA authority has held that 41 properties worth about Rs 1210 crore attached by the Enforcement Directorate ED in the name of absconding diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi and his associated firms are money laundering assets and ordered that their attachment should continueThe central probe agency had provisionally attached 15 flats and 17 office premises in Mumbai a mall in Kolkata a fouracre farm house in Alibaug and 231 acres of land at locations like Nashik Nagpur Panvel in Maharashtra and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu in February this year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA in connection with the about USD 2 billion alleged fraud at a Mumbaibased branch of the Punjab National Bank PNBConsidering the material in the original complaint by the ED I find that immovable properties provisionally attached are all involved in money laundering I therefore hereby confirm the attachment of propertiesand order that the said attachment shall continue during investigation for a period not exceeding ninety days or the pendency of proceedings relating to any offence under the PMLA before a court and become final after an order of confiscation is passed by the special court a recent order issued by Member Law of the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA Tushar V Shah said in a recent orderThe Authority is a quasijudicial body that adjudicates over PMLA attachment of assets made by the ED Official sources said the ED will now move to seize these properties and put up its possession signages at these locations The centralprobe agency had issued a provisional order for attachment of these assets as part of its criminal probe against Choksi his company Gitanjali Gems Limited and associated firms and their associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLAThe attached assets included a 170acre park in Hyderabads Ranga Reddy district valued at over Rs 500 crore Four flats in Borivali east area of the Maharashtra capital and nine others in Khemu Towers in Santacruz east have also been attached as part of the action The total value of the 41 seized assets controlled by Choksi is estimated over Rs 1210 crore the ED had saidChoksi and designer diamond jewellery businessman Nirav Modi and others are being investigated by the ED and other probe agencies after the bank fraud came to light early this year following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of Rs 12000 crore with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case Both Choksi and Modi left the country before criminal cases were lodged against themThey had denied any wrongdoing Choksi is at present based in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and India has sought his extradition from that country The ED a central probe agency under the union finance ministry is investigating if the allegedly defrauded bank funds were laundered and proceeds of crime were subsequently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black moneyAlso Read Congress PMO Overlooked Complaints Facilitated Mehul Choksis EscapeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever