NEW DELHI: Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against the GVK Group promoters, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday said it has initiated a case against the GVK group promoters and officials of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) pertaining to the alleged money laundering of Rs 705 crore in the Mumbai airport development scam.
Confirming the development, officials said that ED has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which is equivalent to FIR. The case has been filed under Section 3 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which deals with concealment of proceeds of crime. The latest action is based on the case registered by CBI on July 27 against GVK Group Chairman Sanjay Reddy and MIAL Managing Director GV Sanjay Reddy for alleged siphoning of Rs 705 crore via nine companies, which was used to float bogus contracts in developing the Mumbai airport causing a loss to the state exchequer between 2012 and 2018.
The CBI had alleged that MIAL had given bogus work contracts for development of 200 acres of AAI land near the airport in 2017 and siphoning off Rs 310 crore. MIAL has transferred the amount to nine companies who have also availed input tax credit with the help of forged invoices, the FIR said. Besides, the promoters also misused Rs 395 crore surplus funds of MIAL from the year 2012 onward.
The ED has also named some officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and nine other private firms. Sources in the ED has already indicated that it will summon all the people connected with the case as well as named in the FIR for quizzing, including the AAI officials, promoters of GVK group, and the nine firms in the coming weeks. “The probe is on. We are now looking into all the contracts and the money transfer during the period. If required we will summon them for further questioning,” a senior ED official said.
No arrests so far
While there has been no arrests so far, the CBI has booked GVK Holdings, its founder Gunupati Venkata Krishna Reddy, his son, Venkata Sanjay Reddy, managing director of MIAL, along with eight other people including officials of Airport Authority of India (AAI) for allegedly siphoning H705 crore from the funds of Mumbai airport through nine companies.