After carrying out massive searches in Odisha and other parts of the country against alleged chit-fund company M/s. Golden Land Developers Limited, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) claimed to have seized Rs 43.48 lakh cash and Rs 64.22 lakh in bank balances of the searched persons along with SUV worth 35 lakh.
The search operations were carried out on February 8 at 19 locations in Odisha, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 related to M/s. Golden Land Developers Limited and others.
The ED had taken up the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI, SPE, Kolkata under various Sections of IPC 1860 against M/s Golden Land Developers Limited.
The ED investigation revealed that accused persons, entities and companies associated with M/s Golden Land Developers Limited allegedly raised huge amounts of money from the public in the garb of real estate development.
“They had floated illegal financial businesses/schemes of lump sum deposits, recurring Deposits, RD/Monthly investment schemes (MIS), YLY plan, etc. in the guise of plot booking without any approval of the regulatory authorities such as RBI, SEBI, ROC, by alluring the depositors of higher returns against the deposits made in the company,” the ED said in a release.
According to ED, large-scale diversion of cash to sister concerns and to the accounts of directors and associates has also been unearthed. “Various incriminating documents including property papers of 1500 acres related to the case and digital devices have also been seized from various premises,” the ED added.