BHUBANESWAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached immovable property worth Rs 22.96 crore belonging to Artha Tatwa Group of Companies, its chief Pradip Sethy, employees and associates.
The provisional attachment order was issued by the Enforcement Directorate, Bhubaneswar under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Earlier, the agency had attached movable and immovable assets to the tune of Rs 84.31 crore by the chit fund firm and its associates.
Sethy had collected huge deposits from the public in money circulation schemes that promised high returns for which he had promoted various companies and co-operative societies. The ED said deposits collected from the public were laundered through investments in movable and immovable property.
During investigation, the attached landed property were found located in and around Bhubaneswar, Balasore and Jagatsinghpur. The ED also stumbled upon 26.69 acres land purchased by AT Group in Andhra Pradesh out of the public deposits. The land was also attached in the provisional order.
The first attachment in May last year included over 100 acre land valued at Rs 79 crore and bank deposits and shares estimated at Rs 5 crore.
Twin City Commissionerate of Police, which probed AT Group scam first, had submitted attachment proposals to the tune of Rs 410 crore.