ED attaches immovable properties worth Rs. 52.73 crore in Navi Mumbai under PMLA
May 11, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 11 : The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs. 52.73 crore located in Navi Mumbai in the case of M/s Monarch Universal Group under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, ED stated in a press release.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by Maharashtra Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, against M/s Monarch Universal Group, Gopal Amarlal Thakur, Hasmukh Amarlal Thakur and others for cheating and defrauding genuine flat buyers by collecting money from them for selling flats and not registering the same in their names.
The ED investigation revealed that Gopal Amarlal Thakur diverted and syphoned off a huge amount of investor money to its various sister entities and, through a complex web of money trails, parked substantial Proceeds of Crime (PoC) with various builders of Navi Mumbai, namely M/s Baba Homes Builders and Developers, M/s Lakhani Builders Pvt. Ltd, M/s Monarch Solitaire LLP and others.
An ED investigation revealed that Monarch Group and its directors sold the same flats to multiple flat buyers. They took a loan from NBFC by mortgaging the already-sold flats without the knowledge of the customers. Consequently, Gopal Amarlal Thakur was arrested on July 1, 2021. He is presently in judicial custody. A prosecution complaint in this case was filed on August 26, 2021. Recognition of the same has already been taken by the Hon'ble Special PMLA Court. The PoC worth Rs. 52.73 crore that has travelled to these builders has been attached via a Provisional Attachment Order dated May 10, 2024.
Further investigation is under progress.
In another operation, ED, Delhi conducted search operations on May 7 at 11 locations in Delhi and NCR belonging to the Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers Pvt Ltd (SRMJPL), Ginni Gold Pvt Ltd (GGPL), Ashok Goel, Pradeep Goal, Praveen Kumar Gupta [promoters/directors] and several shell companies related to them. During the search operations conducted, Cash amounting to Rs. 20.50 Lakh, 5 high-end luxury Cars [Mercedes/ BMW] having acquisition value of approx. Rs. 2 Crore and FDs worth Rs 1 Crore held by the promoters in the name of dummy entities/ persons, various evidence related to assets/ bank accounts held through several shell companies by the promoters were recovered and seized.
