ED attaches ₹24.41 cr assets linked to Dubai-based bizman Vinod Khute

ED's Mumbai unit attaches assets worth ₹24.41 crore linked to Dubai-based businessman Vinod Khute in a ₹100 crore fraud case involving financial schemes.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Mumbai Zonal Unit has provisionally attached assets worth ₹24.41 crore linked to a Dubai-based businessman, Vinod Khute, as part of its money- laundering probe related to an alleged ₹100 crore fraud case involving use of dubious financial schemes and forex trading to lure investors.

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According to the ED sources, the attached assets are in the form of balances in 58 bank accounts amounting to ₹21.27 crore and deposits of ₹3.14 crore, according to ED sources. The attached assets belong to various individuals, entities, and firms that are allegedly used by Khute, who is the owner of the VIPS Group of Companies and Global Affiliate Business Company based in Pune, for laundering of proceeds of crime in the case, according to ED. Khute is absconding and suspected of living in Dubai, according to ED.

ED had initiated its investigation based on a case registered by the Bharti Vidyapeeth police station, Pune, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against Khute, four others, and unknown others for allegedly cheating various individuals and hatching a criminal conspiracy to lure common people into ponzi schemes and forex trading on the pretext of high returns. The accused had allegedly collected more than ₹100 crore in the form of deposits in the bank accounts of several bogus firms and entities, the sources said.

Funds were allegedly collected from investors and routed through shell companies and dummy accounts to conceal the illicit nature of the transactions, ED sources said. Thereafter, such funds were allegedly transferred out of India to Dubai through hawala operators, in exchange for cryptocurrency such as USDT, to evade regulatory scrutiny and facilitate money laundering, the sources said. The proceeds of crime, over ₹100 crores, were allegedly utilised by Khute for his personal use, running the day-to-day affairs of his companies, and acquiring properties in Dubai as well as in India.

ED’s investigation revealed that Khute is the alleged mastermind of various illegal trades including those related to crypto exchange, wallet services, and forex trading through a Dubai-based firm, Kana Capital Limited, ED sources said. The investigation revealed that Khute allegedly established multiple companies, including VIPS WALLET Pvt Ltd, VIPS TRADE Finance Pvt Ltd, Kana Capitals Ltd, Global Affiliate Business, VIPS Securities, and VIPS Properties, among others, to carry out illicit financial activities.

Earlier, ED had provisionally attached overseas assets located in Dubai worth ₹37.5 crore belonging to Khute. Total attachments in the case so far are worth around ₹61.91 crore in the case.