LUCKNOW The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Lucknow unit, on Friday attached flats, agricultural land and crypto currency worth ₹3.24 crore of some Uttar Pradesh-based accused who allegedly ran an illegal call centre in Lucknow for shipping narcotics to the US, said officials.
The assets belonged to Shantanu Gupta, Shashank Gupta, Abdul Wahab Yasir, Mohit Haldar, Puneet Dubey, and others located in UP’s Lucknow and Barabanki and Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar.
The money laundering case, filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a complaint of the Narcotics Control Bureau registered against a company called Hatsh Telecom and other accused.
These people allegedly ran a narcotics business through a call centre in Lucknow in the guise of software-related businesses through nine bogus companies. They used to contact their customers in the US through the call centre and get orders of psychotropic substances, which were then forwarded to two people named Sagar Asthana and Puneet Dubey, who later shipped them as parcels, the ED said in a statement.
It was alleged that the attached properties were acquired through the proceeds of the crime derived from trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances to the US during 2013-2017.
{{/usCountry}}It was alleged that the attached properties were acquired through the proceeds of the crime derived from trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances to the US during 2013-2017.
{{/usCountry}}The nine companies received a total of ₹23.67 crore in around 43 bank accounts and these funds were immediately siphoned off by the directors of these companies in order to acquire properties at various locations, it said.