ED attaches Rs 21 crore assets of defence consultant in money laundering case

The case was the first ever to be investigated by ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for offences under Black Money Act

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached assets worth Rs 21 crore of defence consultant Sanjay Bhandari in connection with a money laundering case.

Enforcement Directorate

The directorate in a press statement said the case was the first ever to be investigated by ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for offences under Black Money Act.

“This is the first case of issuance of attachment order where the scheduled offence is Black Money Act. The provisions of PMLA allow for attachment of properties in India equivalent to the undisclosed assets outside the country of a person accused of offences under Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015,” ED said in a statement. Previously, the Income Tax department had booked Bhandari under the new act.

“The investigation revealed that Sanjay had acquired assets worth more than Rs 150 crore outside India, which were not declared for taxation purposes before the Income Tax authorities,” ED said. The property attached by ED were in the name of Bhandari’s wife and other private companies controlled by him, officials added.

Bhandari’s case first came to light in April last year when the income tax department conducted searches on his premises and claimed to have recovered “sensitive” official defence documents. Delhi police had booked him under the officials secrets act following which the arms dealer left India. ED had then booked Bhandari to probe the allegations of money laundering against him.