KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached Rs 2.5 crore-worth properties of a villa project in Munnar owned by a former state vice-president of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).
Munnar Villa Vista, of M K Ashraf, also known as Tamar Ashraf, was attached in connection with the probe into a money laundering case against the banned outfit.
“ED has taken possession of immovable properties having a book value of Rs 2.53 crore belonging to Munnar Villa Vista Pvt Ltd, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in the Popular Front of India and others case,” read a statement posted on Twitter by ED.
According to ED, the attached properties include four unsold villas measuring 333.03 sq mt and 6.75 acres of land. ED officials said Ashraf of Muvattupuzha was arrested after being arraigned in a PMLA case registered against PFI and its leaders in 2021.
Ashraf still lodged in jail in New Delhi
The case pertains to receiving funds, including from abroad, for furthering illegal activities of PFI across the country. Ashraf is yet to receive bail in the case and is still lodged in a jail in New Delhi. Earlier, Ashraf was arraigned in the case related to Professor T J Joseph's hand-chopping case. However, he was exempted from the chargesheet filed at the NIA court in Kochi in 2013.
According to ED, Ashraf owned a restaurant, Hotel Darbar, in Abu Dhabi. Fund from the restaurant was used to carry out PFI’s illegal activities in India, it stated. In the interrogation, he did not disclose the details regarding the restaurant. He also owns a spices company named Tamar Spices Private Limited.