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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested three persons, including a woman, in connection with an ongoing investigation in a money laundering case of Shine City fraud estimated at nearly Rs 1,000 crore.
ED's Lucknow Zone unit in Uttar Pradesh arrested Asif Naseem, Amitabh Kumar Srivastava and Meera Srivastava under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The accused were subsequently produced before the Special Court for PMLA cases in Lucknow which granted their ED custody for seven days till April 16. ED initiated an investigation based on approximately 250 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by Uttar Pradesh Police against Rasheed Naseem and Shine City Group of Companies, wherein they had collected a huge amount of money approximately Rs 800-1000 crore from the public in the name of investment and promised huge returns on the investment and finally cheated the public/investors by way of committing fraud. ED investigation revealed that Asif Naseem, Amitabh Kumar Srivastava and Meera Srivastava are the main accused and directors of the Shine City group of companies who have lured the investors, collected money and cheated them. The agency investigation also revealed that the proceeds of crime were transferred to various other companies controlled by them and individuals close to them. "Ashif Naseem is a director in 20 companies of Shine City group companies which received the money or proceeds of crime and the same was used to purchase land. Amitabh Kumar Srivastava and Meera Srivastava have collected Rs 22 crore in the bank account of company Kingston Build Con Pvt Ltd and used the proceeds of crime to purchase land and other personal assets. The assets purchased and held by them have been attached," said the ED in a statement. In this case, earlier ED had conducted searches at 18 premises on November 24 last year and seized various incriminating documents. ED investigation till now has resulted in the attachment of properties worth Rs 128 crore. This is the 5th time ED has made in this case. Earlier, ED had arrested Shashi Bala, Abhishek Singh, Durga Prasad and Udhaw Singh. All were given ED custody and are currently in judicial custody. (ANI)
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