Money laundering case: ED attaches ₹300.11 cr worth of properties linked to M3M India

New Delhi [India], July 19 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties spanning 88.29 acres and valued at ₹300.11 crore belonging to M3M India Infrastructures Private Ltd in connection with an alleged money laundering case, the agency said in a release on Friday.

According to the release, the properties attached are in the form of land parcels located in Basharia village in Haryana's Gurugram.

ED initiated the investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, based on allegations against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director of DTCP, R S Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (RSIPL), and 14 other coloniser companies, the agency said in its release.

The alleged case involves cheating various landowners, the public at large, the state of Haryana, and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), by getting issued notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LA Act), and subsequently under section 6 of LA Act for the acquisition of lands of respective landowners, which compelled landowners to sell their land to said coloniser companies at a lower price than the prevailing price before the notification under section 4 of LA Act, the agency said.

The accused allegedly, fraudulently, and dishonestly obtained Letter of Intents (LOIs) and licences on the notified land, causing loss to the respective landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana and HUDA, while wrongfully gaining for themselves, the ED said in its release.

ED investigation revealed that RSIPL, a company beneficially owned by Basant Bansal and Roop Bansal, promoters of M3M group, allegedly colluded with the persons mentioned in the FIR and unlawfully got approved licences for land measuring 10.35 acres for establishing a commercial colony, by classifying their case as "a case of extreme hardship" without legal basis.

Upon securing licences to establish a commercial colony, the promoters of RSIPL allegedly did not develop a commercial colony, which was a precondition for obtaining the licences. Later on, they reportedly sold the company's shares and assets, including the said licenced land for a staggering sum of ₹726 crore to Lowe Realty Private Limited, an associated entity of Religare Group, the ED said in its release.

This alleged activity of obtaining the licenses illegally has resulted in the generation of Proceeds of Crime (PoC) to the tune of ₹300.15 crore, which were subsequently allegedly diverted from RSIPL to the promoters of the firm into their bank accounts and to the bank accounts of their family members and subsequently utilized for operational and business expenses of M3M group companies," the federal financial probe agency added in its release. (ANI)