Hyderabad: Some 1,100 companies are under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, including several from Telangana State that have been booked for money laundering.
Though the investigations are proceeding at various levels, the attachment of multi-crore properties of the accused is being done at high speed. In Telangana state, properties of the Heera Group worth Rs 299 crore were attached. One of Cyberabad’s landmark buildings, Q-City, worth Rs 86.38 crore, owned by Mack Soft Tech Private Limited was seized under FEMA. The probes into many pending cases, such as the cash-for-vote scam, have also been speeded up.
Asked about the attachments being done at such speed, a source revealed, “An internal competition between the 11 zones of the ED is leading to increase in number of attachments. The zone with highest number of speedy investigations and property attachments will be recognised and felicitated by the Principal Director, ED. This has led to properties worth crores of those booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act being attached. The ED is on a spree, confiscating immovable assets and freezing bank accounts.”
At the other end of the spectrum are cases where suspects have slipped out of the country while the investigation is on, in order to escape prosecution.
When Opposition parties questioned the ministry of finance on the measures taken to thwart fugitives, citing the example of Nirav Modi, Union minister of state for finance Anurag Singh Thakur informed Parliament that “Whenever there is an apprehension that any accused person may leave the country during the pendency of PMLA investigation, Look Out Circular (LoC) is issued by Directorate of Enforcement.
“In case any of the accused persons against whom LoC is issued tries to leave the country, the immigration authorities inform the Directorate and such person is apprehended. Further, some of the accused persons may already be residing abroad or may have left India before the issuance of Red Corner Notice (RCN) and Extradition Requests”
The minister added that action under the newly enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 is also initiated in suitable cases against economic offenders who have left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution or who being abroad, refuse to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
