ED attaches Unitech’s Gurugram properties worth over Rs 150-crore under PMLA

Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 30

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has issued a provision attachment order under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to seize properties worth over Rs 150 crore of real estate firm Unitech Group.

According to officials in the ED, the assets include 12 pieces of land measuring a total of 48.56 acres in Gurugram near Delhi.

“The registered value of these land pieces comes to Rs 152.48 crore and these are owned by promoters of Unitech Group through proxy or benami entities like Crown Infra Projects Pvt Ltd, Kore Communities India Pvt Ltd and Joshu Gurgaon SEZ Pvt Ltd,” an ED official said.

According to the official, the agency has alleged that these three companies are part of one Trikar Group/Kore Group, which is a benami investment of the Chandra family of Unitech Group.

The present criminal case against Unitech Group and its promoters—filed under PMLA—is related to allegations that Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra had illegally diverted more than Rs 2,000 crore to Cyprus and Cayman Island, the officials said.

This ED had filed a case after studying multiple FIRs filed by the Delhi Police economic offences wing (EOW) against the promoters and the company. One of the cases pertains to the accused allegedly failing to complete a housing project within stipulated time in Gurugram.

The agency had recently raided 35 premises in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai as part of its probe into the case. The officials claimed the ED in its investigation found that for “purchasing these properties, funds moved through Singapore-based companies like Joshu Pte Ltd, Trikar Residential Developers Pte Ltd and Trikar Property Opportunities Pte Ltd during 2015-2020.

“The source of funds in these companies was from a Cayman Island-based entity namely Trikar Fund Limited (SPC) which is being controlled by the Chandra family through another Cayman-based entity Trikar Asset Management Ltd SPC,” another official said.

The ED claimed that after analysis of seized records followed by the admissions of various persons, the “benami structure” (of companies) has been unravelled.

“It is highly likely that this benami investment is the part of the fund diverted to Cayman Island and Cyprus,” the official said.