The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹69.14 crore of businessman Dhanraj Kochar and his family members in connection with a cheating case involving over ₹100 crore.
The agency had conducted searches on the premises linked to the accused and others in September last and seized cash and jewellery.
According to the ED, one M. S. Hameed and Mr. Kochar, along with Abdul Rawoof, were the directors of a company named D. R. Foundations & Estates Private Limited that was into real estate business.
Properties acquired
During 2005-06, several properties in Siruseri village falling under the Thiruporur Sub Registrar Office in Tamil Nadu were acquired using the funds that were invested by Mr. Hameed, his relatives and a business entity, Paramount Builders, into D.R. Foundations and Real Estates. They were secretly transferred to Mr. Kochar and his family members. Some properties were also directly bought in their names.
As alleged, the accused disposed of some of the properties. Therefore, in order to prevent sale of other properties, which are the proceeds of the alleged crime, and to prevent frustration of further proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the agency attached the assets, including fixed deposits and jewellery.
The ED probe is based on a First Information Report registered by the Tamil Nadu Police against Mr. Kochar and his family members on the charge of criminal conspiracy and cheating. In the case of alleged misappropriation, a lower court had convicted him and six others in 2017.
