Enforcement Directorate arrests M3M India director in PMLA case - Hindustan Times
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Enforcement Directorate arrests M3M India director in PMLA case

By, Chandigarh
Jun 09, 2023 12:13 AM IST

After ED raids, Bansals of M3M group knocked on Delhi HC doors, application will be taken up on June 12

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested a director of real estate development company, Roop Kumar Bansal, in a case of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), said ED officials.

Seventeen high-end luxury vehicles such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Maybach having acquisition value of about <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>60 crore, jewellery worth <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>5.75 crore, <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>15 lakh cash and various incriminating documents, digital evidences and books of accounts were seized during a search operation.
Seventeen high-end luxury vehicles such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Maybach having acquisition value of about 60 crore, jewellery worth 5.75 crore, 15 lakh cash and various incriminating documents, digital evidences and books of accounts were seized during a search operation.

The PMLA investigations were initiated based on multiple FIRs registered against the IREO group. The investigations done by the ED revealed that a huge amount of money running in hundreds of crores was siphoned off through M3M group also, said an ED statement.

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The Central agency had on June 1 carried out a search operation at offices of the real estate developers IREO and M3M for allegedly siphoning funds of home buyers and others. The search operations, as per ED officials, were carried out at seven locations in Gurugram and Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions.

Seventeen high-end luxury vehicles such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Maybach having acquisition value of about 60 crore, jewellery worth 5.75 crore, 15 lakh cash and various incriminating documents, digital evidences and books of accounts were seized during the search operation, a statement by ED said.

Following the search operations carried out by the ED, real estate developer, M3M India Private Ltd, and its director Roop Bansal filed a petition in the Delhi high court seeking quashing of summons for the personal appearance of Roop Bansal and his brother Basant Bansal.

The petitioners also sought the quashing of memos for seizure of cars, electronic devices, cash and jewellery during the search operations. The petition, mentioned as an urgent one, was taken up by the high court on June 7 and posted for next hearing on June 12. The petitioners have also sought quashing of a June letter freezing the bank accounts of its companies and issuing of directions to prohibit the ED from taking any precipitative action against them.

The company in its petition before the HC contended that 13 first information reports (FIRs) were registered by certain allottees of two separate residential projects being undertaken by two separate companies — IREO Pvt Ltd and IREO Fiveriver Pvt Ltd — primarily on the ground of delay in delivery of possession of apartments and commercial units. The projects in relation to which these FIRs were registered were ‘Skyon’ constructed by IREO Pvt Ltd (two FIRs) at Gurugram and floors, plots, and villas constructed by IREO Fiveriver at Panchkula (11 FIRs). “Of these 13 FIRs, there was no FIR against Roop Bansal, Basant Bansal or M3M India Pvt Ltd or its projects,” the petitioner said.

It further said the ED proceeded with the registration of an enforcement case information report (ECIR) under Sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA, while treating the 13 FIRs as scheduled or predicate offence.

“There are no allegations against the M3M group and Bansals in the ECIR nor the group or its projects or any property of the petitioners is mentioned as suspected proceeds of crime in the ECIR. It is submitted with emphasis that there are no predicate offences alleged against the petitioners by the ED,” the petition reads.

The petitioners contended that as per their knowledge, all 13 FIRs were either closed by the police (closure reports were prepared by the jurisdictional police) or settled before the said ECIR was registered. “On January 14, 2022, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against seven accused and the FIRs taken as the scheduled offence in the ECIR were increased from 13 to 30. None of the petitioners are arrayed as accused in the said prosecution complaint,” the petitioners contended. The trial in the said matter is proceeding as per law and is pending, the petition said.

The petitioners said the ED on May 29, carried out illegal raids on the premises of their five residences and issued a letter to the banker of M3M and its group companies, unlawfully directing that their bank accounts be marked as debit freeze accounts. “The ED falsely stated that Roop Bansal, Basant Bansal and other have siphoned money belonging to customers and the proceeds of crime remained with M3M group which was used by it for other investments,” said the petition.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Hitender Rao is Senior Associate Editor covering the state of Haryana. A journalist with over two decades of experience, he writes on politics, economy, migration and legal affairs with a focus on investigative journalism.

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