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Saturday’s Compliance Directorate “partially” attached a nine-story building in Rs 16.38 crore worth of Bandra, Mumbai, in connection with its money laundering investigation involving Associated Journals Limited (AJL), a company controlled by the Gandhi family and the editors of The National Herald newspaper.
ED said it has attached a portion of the building, which has been established as “proceeds of crime” and notices of the embargo under the Money Laundering Prevention Act (PMLA) have been issued to AJL and veteran Congressman Moti Lal Vora, who becomes the president and CEO of the company.
The nine-story building, located on plot number 2, Survey number 341, near Kala Nagar in Bandra (East), has two basements and a total built area of 15,000 square meters and its total value is around Rs 120 million rupees.
Former Haryana Prime Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was named as the defendant in the case and both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED indicted him in 2018 and 2019 respectively, along with Vora.
Also read: ED files charges against senior Congressional leaders in National Herald case
The ED alleged that Hooda and Vora used the proceeds of the crime in the form of a plot: number C-17, Sector 6, Panchkula, illegally assigned to AJL, and pledged to take advantage of the loan from the Syndicate Bank branch in Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi to build this building in Bandra.
“Therefore, said asset in Mumbai that grew from the proceeds of crime has been attached to the measure of Rs 16.38 crore. More investigations are underway, “the agency said in a statement. Panchkula’s plot has already been attached by the agency.
The money laundering investigation was based on allegations that the property was assigned to AJL in 1982, but was withdrawn by the Property Officer, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) a decade later on October 30 1992, since AJL did not comply with the award conditions
However, Hooda blatantly misused his official position and dishonestly assigned such a plot again on the pretext of reassigning AJL to the original rates plus interest in violation of HUDA’s necessary conditions and policies by an order of August 28 2005, for Rs 59,39,200, “ED has stated. The real value of the property (Panchkula) is approximately Rs 64.93 crore, he said.
The anti-money laundering investigative agency has further stated that Hooda, like the then-CM, caused unlawful losses to HUDA and unlawful gains to AJL by ignoring the legal opinion and recommendations of HUDA officials and the financial commissioner and secretary. main, city and country planning.
The agency also said it found that Hooda three times improperly granted AJL extensions for the construction of the parcel, projecting it as uncontaminated property and acquiring more bank loans through mortgages from time to time.
In reaction to development, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “This is part of the continuing government tirade against the National Herald. Since the main accusations against the National Herald are unfounded, such embargo orders are equally unfounded and unsustainable. They will be adequately challenged by adequate legal recourse. There is also a continuous process of dissemination of erroneous information by the authorities in this regard. It would be much better to advise the government to use its energies to fight Covid instead of such wasteful exercises. “
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