NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached immovable assets worth approximately `400 crore as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into the Jaypee Group.
The immovable assets belong to the Jaiprakash Sewa Sansthan (JSS) and Page 3 Buildtech Private Limited. These properties have been seized under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The action is linked to an alleged large-scale diversion of funds collected from homebuyers of Jaypee Wishtown and Jaypee Greens projects.
The federal investigation agency had initiated a probe against the Jaypee Group on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wings (EOW) of the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police departments following complaints of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust by the homebuyers against Jaypee Infratech Ltd and Jaiprakash Associates Limited and their promoters.
“It has been alleged that the funds collected from thousands of homebuyers for the construction and completion of residential projects were diverted for purposes other than construction, leaving the homebuyers defrauded and their projects incomplete,” an official of the agency said.
The ED said the two Jaypee Group companies, JAL and JIL, collected `14,599 crore from more than 25,000 homebuyers, but “substantial” amounts were diverted and siphoned off to related group entities such as the JSS, Jaypee Healthcare Limited and Jaypee Sports International Limited.
“The investigation has established the central role of Manoj Gaur (former Jaypee Infratech MD) in the planning and execution of the fund diversion through a complex web of transactions within the Jaypee group and its associated entities,” the agency stated.
Gaur was arrested on November 13 last year under Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002. He is currently in judicial custody.
Further probe is on.