In connection with a money laundering investigation into real estate company Unitech and its promoters, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has announced that it has seized "possession" of 15 land plots in Gurugram, Haryana, worth Rs 2.45 billion. Trikar Group, a Unitech benami company, owns the land.
The ED had previously seized these properties in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and after the PMLA's Adjudicating Authority approved the attachment, the agency has now seized "physical property" of these land parcels, the statement said.
Several FIRs filed by the Delhi Police Department's Economic Crimes Department (EOW) led to the money laundering case against the Unitech group, its promoter brothers, Sanjay and Ajay Chandra, and members of their families.
The Chandra brothers, Ramesh Chandra (their father and the founder of Unitech), Preeti Chandra (Sanjay Chandra's wife) and Rajesh Malik (the promoter of the accused company Carnoustie group) had all been detained by the agency in this case. In this case, the ED carried out up to 45 searches in addition to seizing assets totalling Rs 11.32 billion, filing two charge sheets and seizing those assets.