Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth Rs 7.7 crore of Goa realty firm

PANAJI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets and bank balance to the tune of Rs 7.7 crore of a Goa-based real estate company for allegedly defrauding foreigners.
The ED, which attached 72 flats and villas under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, initiated the investigation against M/s Sanatan Financers and Real Estate Pvt Ltd, Ankit Kumar and Sunil Kumar on the basis of FIRs registered against them by Goa police under various IPC sections. The accused illegally collected funds from foreign nationals under the guise of selling properties in a project called ‘Peace Valley’ at Sirvoi, Quepem, said the ED.
Ankit and Sunil had collected the money using the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) route in accounts of various shell companies, including Sanatan Financers, the ED found.
“These gullible foreign nationals were induced to invest in the companies formed by the accused, towards the purchase of flats/villas but the ownership of the said homes was never transferred to them ,” ED said in a statement. It added that Ankit and Sunil, from 2006 to 2011, received Rs 7.7 crore and acquired 16 villas worth Rs 2.56 crore and 56 flats worth Rs 5.2 crore — all of whiuch have been attached under the PMLA.