The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 62 immovable properties to the tune of approximately ₹30.26 crore belonging to Heera Construction Co. Pvt. Ltd., its managing director Abdul Rasheed, Heera Educational and Charitable Trust, and sister concern Heera Summer Holiday Homes Pvt. Ltd. as proceeds of crime in a bank-fraud case.
The accused, Mr. Rasheed, was arrested for alleged money laundering on December 4. The Central agency had initiated investigation on the basis of a first information report (FIR) registered by the Kochi unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by State Bank of India, Kowdiar branch, against Heera Construction Co. Pvt. Ltd, Mr. Rasheed, and others.
₹34.82 crore
The investigation by ED revealed that the accused had cheated the bank by fraudulently selling the primary and collateral securities mortgaged with the bank and also defrauding in loan repayment. The accused persons had purportedly generated proceeds of crime amounting to ₹34.82 crore.
The probe also found that the firm, Mr. Rasheed, and his family members had invested the proceeds of crime in multiple immovable properties in their personal names and in the names of their companies and Trust in Kerala, and projected them as untainted properties in violation of Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PLMA), 2002, according to official sources.
The Special Court for PMLA, Ernakulam, has rejected a bail application moved by Mr. Rasheed and has remanded him for custodial interrogation by ED for five days. The accused, who is under judicial custody till January 20, will be interrogated to further unearth more proceeds of crime and to nab other accused persons, the agency has informed.
