BHUBANESWAR: In a major crackdown against illegal fund-raising through deposit schemes, the Bhubaneswar Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached assets worth Rs 1,428 crore of Goldenland Group of Companies in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh for duping thousands of investors by promising high returns.
The seizure of assets, which includes bank balances amounting to Rs 15.06 crore and property measuring 1,000 acre in various districts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, was done as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
ED officials said the present market value of the immovable assets attached, which also includes constructed buildings and structures, is to the tune of Rs 1,413 crore. They said the company and its affiliates illegally and fraudulently raised huge amounts of money from the general public in both the states under the garb of investment in real estate development.
The firm had also allegedly floated illegal financial businesses of lump sum deposits, recurring deposits and monthly investment schemes etc., in the guise of plot booking. “Large-scale diversion of cash to sister concerns and to other accounts of the directors and associates has also been detected,” the ED officials said.
The investigation was launched based on an FIR registered by the CBI, Kolkata, under various sections of IPC, 1860, against Goldenland Group of Companies and others. The probe revealed that the suspected persons, entities and companies associated with Golden Land Developers Limited and GLP Developers Limited floated deposit schemes without having any statutory authority and approval from regulatory authorities like the RBI, SEBI and ROC.