NEW DELHI: Seventy acres of land and flats in Gurugram, a few dwelling units in Mumbai, a farmhouse in Delhi and fixed deposits worth about Rs 113 crore of Amit Katyal, an alleged “close associate” of RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s family, and his realty companies have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the ED said Thursday.
The investigation by the central agency pertains to the “siphoning and illegal diversion” of plot buyers’ money by the promoters and their companies without having any licence from the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP).
A provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on August 6 to attach the properties worth Rs 113.03 crore in the case of Amit Katyal, Krrish Realtech Pvt. Ltd. and Brahma City Pvt. Ltd., the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.
Katyal was arrested by the central agency last year in a separate money laundering case related to the railways alleged land-for-jobs scam involving Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son and former deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, MP daughter Misa Bharti and some other children.
It said the attached assets included 70 acres of land in Sector 63 and 65 (villages of Nangli Umarpur, Ullhawas, Maidawas) in Gurugram, five flats in a real estate project named Krrish Province Estates and seven flats in Krrish Florence Estate in Gurugram held in the names of “benami” directors and two flats in Mumbai held in a “benami” company.
A luxurious farmhouse at Jonapur and a commercial property in New Delhi, fixed deposit receipts of associates to the tune of Rs 27 crore where Katyal was found to have “parked” the proceeds of crime in the names of companies and key individuals including close relatives, were also among the assets attached.
The agency had conducted searches in this case in March and claimed to have recovered documents related to Rs 200 crore investment abroad, allegedly using the money of investors, in a hotel-cum-luxury real estate project in Sri Lanka and Saint Kitts and Nevis to obtain a passport through “shell companies” whose “beneficial” ownership was held by Katyal’s son Krishan Katyal.
The money laundering case stems from FIRs filed by the Gurugram Police and the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police.
It was alleged in these FIRs that Krrish Realtech Pvt. Ltd., Brahma City Pvt. Ltd., Rajesh Katyal and Amit Katyal “duped” investors in the guise of allotment of plots for which there was no license and the accused illegally diverted hundreds of crores of funds of such plot buyers abroad through criminal conspiracy, misrepresentation, fraud and cheating.
