ED Attaches Rs. 300 Crore Worth Properties of M3M India Infrastructures in Money Laundering Case
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Delhi, 19, July, 2024
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Headquarters Office, has taken action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, by provisionally attaching immovable properties spanning 88.29 acres valued at Rs. 300.11 Crore belonging to M/s M3M India Infrastructures Private Ltd. These properties, consisting of land parcels in village Basharia, Tehsil- Harsaru, District- Gurugram, Haryana, are at the center of an investigation initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The FIR implicates Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director, DTCP, M/s R. S. Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., and 14 other colonizer companies under various sections of IPC, 1860, and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The case revolves around alleged fraudulent practices involving land acquisition notifications and the acquisition of lands from landowners at lower prices than market rates.
ED’s investigation has uncovered that M/s R S Infrastructure Private Limited (RSIPL), beneficially owned by Basant Bansal and Roop Bansal, colluded with the accused to obtain licenses for land fraudulently. They allegedly misrepresented their case as “extreme hardship” to secure licenses for establishing a commercial colony on 10.35 acres of land. However, they failed to develop the colony as required and later sold the licensed land along with the company’s assets for Rs. 726 Crore to M/s Lowe Realty Private Limited, an associated entity of M/s Religare Group.
This illegal acquisition of licenses has led to the generation of Proceeds of Crime (PoC) amounting to Rs. 300.15 Crore, which were allegedly diverted from RSIPL to the promoters’ bank accounts and used for operational expenses of M/s M3M group companies.
The investigation by ED is ongoing as further details are being examined to unravel the extent of the alleged fraud and money laundering activities involving M/s M3M India Infrastructures Private Ltd.