ED attaches Rs 4-crore assets in Aishwarya Gowda 'fraud' case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached assets worth around Rs 4 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against a Karnataka-based woman, Aishwarya Gowda, who is alleged to have cheated a number of people by threatening and claiming proximity to "high profile" politicians.Congress leader DK Suresh, the younger brother of Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, also appeared before the anti-money laundering agency and recorded his statement in connection with this case on Monday in Bengaluru.

The ED had arrested Aishwarya Gowda earlier in April following searches against her and some other individuals.

Meanwhile, the provisionally attached properties include flats, building and land worth Rs 2.01 crore, apart from cash and a Rs 1.97 crore vehicle, the ED said in a statement. An order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was issued on June 19 for attaching these properties, it added.

The total value of the attached properties is Rs 3.98 crore, the ED said. However it did not specify in the statement as to whom the attached assets belonged to.

The money laundering case against Gowda, her husband Harish KN and some others stems from multiple FIRs filed by the Karnataka Police, which allege that Gowda, her husband and others had entered into a "criminal conspiracy" to defraud and cheat several individuals by taking gold, cash and funds through bank accounts, promising high rate of returns, the agency said.