HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 130.57 crore in the demonetisation scam case related to Hyderabad-based Musaddilal Gems and Jewels Pvt. Ltd. and other firms. The attached assets include 41 immovable properties registered in the name of various jewellers and others involved in the case, movable properties in the form of stock in trade valued at Rs 18.69 crore, and investments made in the stock market in the form of shares worth Rs 63 lakh by persons involved in the scam. The attachment also includes gold jewellery, bullion and ornaments valued at Rs 83.30 crore which were seized during searches.
The ED had initiated the investigation based on a FIR registered by Hyderabad city police after demonetisation was announced. It was revealed that Musaddilal Gems and Jewels Pvt. Ltd., Vaishnavi Bullion Pvt. Ltd. and Musaddilal Jewellers Pvt Ltd had deposited demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to the tune of Rs 111 crore in their bank accounts immediately after demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016. The firms had raised fake cash receipts and sale invoices showing that around 6,000 customers visited their showrooms to purchase gold jewellery between 8 pm and 12 am, immediately after the announcement.
Further investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act revealed that the companies, run by Kailash Chand Gupta and his sons, fabricated invoices to create fictitious sources of income to justify the large amounts of cash deposits based on the advice of their Chartered Accountant.
After depositing around Rs 111 crore into their bank accounts, a major portion of the deposits were transferred to gold bullion dealers to buy bullion, which was delivered to various jewellers and other entities involved.
Thus, demonetised notes were successfully placed, layered and integrated into the financial system, the ED said.The ED also found that by selling the converted gold at an exorbitant profit, Kailash Gupta and his family derived further profits of Rs 28 crore. The total proceeds of the crime are thus worked out at Rs 139 crore.