June 6, 2023: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 5, 2023, said it carried out raids on the offices of real estate companies IREO and M3M in a money laundering investigation. During the raid, Rs 15 lakh in cash, jewellery worth Rs 5.75 crore and 17 luxury cars worth Rs 60 crore, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Maybach, were seized. The raid also uncovered incriminating documents, digital evidence and books of accounts.
According to the investigating agency’s statement, searches were carried out on June 1 at seven of their locations in Delhi and Gurgaon in connection with the case of siphoning homebuyers’ and investors’ money. The search operations were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions.
The PMLA investigations were initiated based on multiple first information reports (FIR) registered against the IREO group. The ED has been investigating the IREO group for the last few years on charges of diverting, siphoning and misappropriating funds of investors and customers. The investigations revealed that huge amounts of money were siphoned through M3M group as well, said the statement.
The owners, controllers and promoters of the M3M Group- Basant Bansal, Roop Kumar Bansal, Pankaj Bansal and other key persons- deliberately avoided investigations during the raids, the ED said.
“Investigations showed that in one of the transactions, M3M group received about Rs 400 crore from IREO group through several shell companies. The land was owned by M3M group and the market value of the land was around Rs 4 crore. M3M group initially sold the development rights of the said land to five shell companies for a payment of Rs 10 crore. It was claimed that the five companies were unrelated. Investigations show that these shell companies were operated by M3M Group. The five shell companies thereafter immediately sold the development rights of the same land to IREO Group for about Rs400 crore,” said an ED statement.
“In this way, IREO and M3M siphoned off about Rs 400 crore money belonging to investors and customers and the proceeds of crime remained with M3M Group,” the statement read. The IREO Group did not make any effort to develop the land and started to ‘write off’ the investments every year, the ED alleged.
Dhwani is a content management expert with over five years of professional experience. She has authored articles spanning diverse domains, including real estate, finance, business, health, taxation, education and more. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Dhwani’s interests encompass reading and travelling. She is dedicated to staying updated on the latest real estate advancements in India.
Email: [email protected]
Related Posts
Bitcoin case: ED attaches assets worth Rs 42.88 crores, including multiple flats, in Dubai.
Government makes anti-money laundering law stricter, widens definition of ‘proceeds of crime’.
Zakir Naik rejects ED’s charges, says all money sent to India accounted for.
ED seizes Delhi flat, Haryana land of Delhi minister’s brother, under FEMA.
Madras HC refuses to quash money laundering case against VGN Developers.
ED attaches over Rs 2,500-crore assets of Haryana-based SRS Group, in connection with fraud case.
