The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹55.57 crore, including over 100 immovable properties, in connection with a case of cheating hundreds of investors across Jharkhand on the pretext of allocating to them houses and land parcels.
While 98 immovable properties are located in Ranchi, three commercial shops are in Raipur. Fixed deposits in name of Sanjeevani Buildcon Private Limited, its director Jayant Dayal Nand and his wife Anita; another director Shyam Kishore Gupta; and Ranjana Shrivastav, wife of the company’s director, Prakash Prasad Lala, have also been attached.
The ED probe is based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has filed a chargesheet against Sanjeevani Buildcon and others.
According to the ED, the company and its directors got misleading advertisements published to lure people into investing in their schemes for purported allotment of constructed houses and land parcels. plots of land/constructed house. The directors had opened a large number of bank accounts to launder the funds, as alleged.
“A large part of proceeds of crime was also withdrawn in cash by the accused persons for depositing the same in their personal accounts, which was further projected as untainted,” said the agency, adding that it had earlier attached assets held in the name of the company and its directors, worth ₹3.1 crore.
The Competent Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has confirmed the previous attachment order.
On March 12, 2020, the ED had also arrested one of the directors, Shyam Kishore Gupta, and subsequently filed a charge sheet against either persons/entities. A look-out circular has also been issued against Mr. Nand, who is said to be the mastermind behind the scam.
