ED restitutes Rs 19.40 crore to defrauded investors of Rose Valley Group

The amount has been transferred to the account of the Rose Valley Asset Disposal Committee (ADC) as per the directives of the Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata, following the orders dated July 24 and August 17.

The ED had requested the Assets Disposal Committee, constituted by the High Court, to seek restitution of properties attached or seized by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In compliance, the ADC applied Section 8(8) of the PMLA before the Special Court.

Despite opposition from the Rose Valley promoters, the ED and ADC were successful resulting in an order for the release of the attached properties for restitution in favour of bona fide investors.

Rose Valley Group had amassed substantial deposits from the public under false/fraudulent promises of high returns and land allocations.

The ED's extensive investigation led to the identification and attachment of several properties belonging to the Rose Valley Group.

The ED booked two cases under the PMLA: the first involves properties worth Rs 12 crore, and the second concerns properties with a deed value of approximately Rs 1200 crore.

The successful release of Rs 19.40 crore marks a pivotal step towards further restitution of additional properties as outlined in the second chargesheet.

The Court has directed that the released amount of Rs 19.40 Crore should be disbursed to the bona fide claimants on a pro-rata basis or as instructed by the ADC or the Court.

Claimants receiving the restitution are required to execute a bond to refund or reimburse the amount if so directed at any subsequent stage of the proceedings or upon conclusion of the trial.

Furthermore, all claimants must comply with the instructions issued by the ADC regarding the disbursement process.

Additionally, the ED, Kolkata Zonal Office provisionally attached movable assets worth Rs 31.93 crore belonging to M/s Lichen Metals Private Limited (LMPL) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) on August 28.

ED initiated an investigation based on a charge sheet filed by CBI under various sections of IPC, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against M/s Lichen Metals Pvt Ltd and others.

Upon investigation, the ED revealed that M/s Lichen Metals Private Limited (LMPL), in collusion with STC officials, had created false import indents for 2000 kg of gold.

These indents were split into two separate requests to bypass internal financial controls requiring higher approval.

Based on these fabricated indents, STC officials fraudulently secured a forward exchange cover for USD 100 million from SBI. This cover was meant to protect against fluctuations in the exchange rate for the gold that was never actually imported. Despite no gold being imported, LMPL, again in cahoots with STC officials, sought the cancellation of the forward cover just two months later.

This manoeuvre resulted in a wrongful gain of Rs 31.93 crore to M/s Lichen Metals Private Limited.

During the investigation, it revealed that despite no actual gold import, LMPL orchestrated the cancellation of the forward cover, resulting in a wrongful gain of Rs. 31.93 crore.

These illicit gains were then integrated into M/s Lichen Metals Private Limited's legitimate business operations, including further gold imports.

Further investigation is under progress.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Allahabad Zonal Office provisionally attached a bank balance of Rs 4.05 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the case of M/s Vinayak Nirman Private Limited.

ED initiated an investigation in this case based on an FIR registered by Uttar Pradesh Police, P.S. Cant, Varuna Commissionerate, Varanasi under various sections of the IPC, 1860.

The said FIR was registered based on information shared by the Income Tax Department, wherein it was alleged that based on a forged project completion certificate, company Vinayak Nirman Pvt Ltd has claimed deduction u/s 80IB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The completion certificate for the project by M/s Vinayak Nirman Pvt Ltd, as claimed by the Builder Company that it was issued by the Joint Secretary of Varanasi Development Authority, was forged and fraudulently used by the company as genuine to avail the above-mentioned deduction benefit.

The CBDT had shared the same information to ED that M/s Vinayak Nirman Pvt Ltd has availed bogus deduction u/s 80 IB (10) with the help of furnishing fabricated documents.

Since the scheduled offence was involved in the case and huge Proceeds of Crime (POC) were generated, ED took up an investigation under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 and during the investigation it was revealed that M/s Vinayak Nirman Private Limited had fabricated project completion certificates/documents for its residential project, namely "The Varuna Garden," allegedly issued by Varanasi Development Authority for claiming undue deduction under Section 80IB (10) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which caused huge loss to the Govt. Exchequer.

Further investigation is under progress. (ANI)