ED seeks non-bailable warrant against Iqbal Mirchi’s wife and sons

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday moved an application in a special court, seeking a non-bailable warrant against the late gangster Iqbal Mirchi’s wife

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday moved an application in a special court, seeking a non-bailable warrant against the late gangster Iqbal Mirchi’s wife Hajra Memon and two sons, Asif and Junaid, as they failed to answer summons

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The agency is probing a case of money laundering against Mirchi. ED had filed a complaint against the three and 13 other accused in December last year, stating that Mirchi had bought properties in India using money earned through illegal activities and later also sold them for redevelopment.

The court accepted the complaint and issued summons to all the accused, including Hajra, Asif and Junaid, who are residing out of the country. As the three failed to appear before court, the ED has moved a plea, seeking a non-bailable warrant against them.

ED alleged that Mirchi’s assets in the city were allegedly bought from the proceeds of crime earned by him through his purported criminal activities. The agency alleged that the family is the beneficiary of the properties and money earned through these.

The Central agency alleged that Mirchi had purchased three assets – Sea View, Marium Lodge and Rabia Mansion – in 1986. Officers claimed Mirchi was involved in narcotics smuggling and operated an extortion racket for several years, and listed eight cases to prove his involvement in criminal activities since 1984. A case filed in 1994 at MRA Marg police station was taken as the base case to initiate a money-laundering inquiry against him.

ED claimed Mirchi used the trust as a front and began negotiating with several developers to redevelop the properties. Between 1981 and 2010, the original tenants were replaced with Mirchi’s relatives. The agency claimed that by 2005, almost all tenants were Mirchi’s nominees and were planted by Humayun Merchant in connivance with Haroun Yusuf, both of whom are aides of Mirchi.

In 2007, a deal was finalised between the trust and a developer – Joy Home Creations Pvt Limited – after a meeting with Mirchi in London. In 2010, Mirchi allegedly threatened the developer to withdraw, as he failed to make payments as promised. Later, in 2010, M/s Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Limited took over the project. The agency claimed Ranjeet Singh Bindra was the broker for the deal and was to get ₹40 crore-₹50 crore as brokerage from Sunblink. As part of the deal signed between Merchant, Joy Home Creation and Sunblink Real Estate, the tenancy rights were transferred to Sunblink for consideration of ₹225 crore.

Most of the payments were done in 2010 and around ₹43 crore was to be paid by November this year. The agency claimed that ₹127 crore has been paid to Merchant till date. However, as per the records, payment of ₹60 crore has only been made to Merchant, while the rest was transferred through hawala channels. Referring to the statement of a witness, ED claimed a payment of 90 million dirham was made to the UAE through hawala, which was then used for purchase of a five-star hotel in Dubai.

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