The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that it has attached assets worth Rs 101 crore of Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd (SJFIL) group which siphoned off Rs 3,500 crore from over 20 lakh people across India through its ponzi schemes.
The agency attached immovable properties worth Rs 101.30 crore of the Pune-based firm under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
These properties were purchased in the name of the Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd promoter Mahesh Kisan Motewar, his two wives, other family members and business associates.
The attached properties in the form of of land, residences, shops and offices, spread across eight states including Maharashtra.
The financial probe agency said that its investigation established that the funds collected from the unsuspecting investors were laundered for the expansion of the promoters' other businesses and for personal gains.
The agency has been probing the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Motewar and his wife Leena for cheating thousands of investors.
An ED official said that some of the attached properties belong to Rajendra Singh Atarsingh Yadav, who is associated with educational institutions like Chaudhary Atarsingh Yadav Memorial Education Trust and Sai Foundation Pvt Ltd having a major medical college named Siddhant School of Medical Science in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri.
In June 2017, the agency had attached properties worth Rs 207 crore including a Bell make helicopter worth Rs 3.43 crore. Total attachment in this case till now is Rs 308 crore.
According to ED officials, Motewar allegedly generated funds under several ponzi schemes and the money was laundered for the expansion of other businesses like construction, media, hospitality, software and for personal comforts.
The official also said that Motewar involved many of his family members, relatives and office staff for carrying out this illegal collection and laundering through a web of 34 companies.
The collected deposits or investments under the ponzi schemes were laundered to various group companies, said the official, adding the funds were used to acquire immovable properties ranging from plots or lands, commercial complex, hotels, resorts, flats, bungalows and movable properties.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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