The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a London-based hotel namely “Bed and Breakfast”, having a present value of about ₹58.61 crore, in connection with the money laundering charge against the Unitech Group and others.
The hotel is owned by Ibournshorne Limited, a United Kingdom-based associate company of Carnoustie Group, said the agency. The value of attachment in the case so far stands at ₹595.61 crore, while the total proceeds of the alleged crime is at least ₹5,063.05 crore.
The ED probe is based on several First Information Reports registered by the Delhi Police on complaints of home-buyers against the Unitech Group and its promoters. It is alleged that tainted funds to the tune of ₹325 crore belonging to home-buyers were diverted to Carnoustie Group, from which ₹41.30 crore was routed to the U.K. via Indesign Enterprises Private Limited in Cyprus.
The funds were used for purchasing the shares of Ibounshorne Limited in the name of Carnoustie Management India Private Limited, an entity belonging to the Carnoustie Group.
38 searches
The agency had carried out searches at 38 places in the National Capital Region and Mumbai, on the premises of the Shivalik Group, Trikar Group, Unitech Group and the Carnoustie Group. An analysis of the seized records, coupled with the disclosures made by various persons, revealed that funds had been diverted, it alleged.
The properties attached earlier by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act included more than 110 land parcels worth about ₹260 crore; a helicopter owned by King Rotors Air Charters Private Limited, an associate company of the Shivalik Group; and two resorts owned by various entities of the Carnoustie Group.
Several land parcels located in Gurugram were held allegedly by the Unitech Group’s promoters through three entities, Crown Infra Projects Private Limited, Kore Communities India Private Limited and Joshu Gurgaon SEZ Private Limited. The agency alleged that they were part of one Trikar/Kore Group, which was a “benami” investment of the promoters.
In order to acquire the land, funds were allegedly transferred via Singapore-based companies, Joshu Pte. Limited, Trikar Residential Developers Pte. Limited and Trikar Property opportunity Pte. Limited, in 2015-2020. These companies got the money from Cayman Islands-based Trikar Fund Limited (SPC), which was controlled by the promoters through another Cayman-based entity, Trikar Asset Management Limited SPC, as alleged by the ED.