ED attaches assets worth ₹40.37 crore in case against HDIL promoters

The agency’s money laundering probe is based on a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Corruption Branch against the HDIL promoters

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Mumbai unit has provisionally attached assets worth ₹40.37 crore in its money laundering investigation related to an alleged ₹200 crore bank fraud case, involving Housing Development & infrastructure Pvt Ltd (HDIL) promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, and others.

ED attaches assets worth ₹40.37 crore in case against HDIL promoters

According to ED sources, the attached assets belong to a firm, Vikram Homes Private Limited, and comprise a commercial property admeasuring 3,958.15 square metres in carpet area (having four office units, along with the lobby and passage) in a building, Kaledonia, located in Andheri East. The ED has earlier attached properties worth ₹203.99 crore in the case and the total attachments in this case have now gone up to ₹244.36 crore.

The agency’s money laundering probe is based on a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s Anti-Corruption Branch against the HDIL promoters and others, for allegedly siphoning off loan funds of ₹200 crore sanctioned by Yes Bank, to a firm, Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd, agency sources said.

Subsequently, based on a complaint filed by Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd, the NM Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai also registered a fresh case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

It was alleged that the Wadhawans had illegally and fraudulently sold several office units in the Kaledonia building owned by Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd, causing the latter wrongful loss of over ₹300 crore, charges that are also being investigated by the ED.

ED’s investigation has revealed that the Wadhawans had allegedly illegally and fraudulently transferred a commercial property of Mack Star located in the Kaledonia building to Vikram Homes Pvt Ltd, without any actual payment to Mack Star, agency sources said. The ED probe revealed that the Wadhawans had allegedly cheated and caused loss to Mack Star by illegally selling the said properties without the consent of the firm’s majority shareholder, the sources said.