Jun 28, 09:40 AM

India’s ED Seizes and Restores Assets Worth ₹1,500 Crore in Week-Long Crackdown

India’s Enforcement Directorate carried out a string of actions this week under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as it intensified its crackdown on alleged financial irregularities across real-estate, infrastructure and education sectors. In the largest move, the agency provisionally attached assets valued at about ₹557.43 crore linked to Mahira Infratech Pvt. Ltd. and associated companies in Gurugram. The attachments include 35 acres of land and fixed-deposit receipts worth ₹97 lakh, following accusations that the developers cheated home buyers. Separately, ED’s Jammu office froze land, buildings and income-generating assets worth roughly ₹15.78 crore in a probe into the Patni Top Development Authority. The agency alleges misappropriation of public funds meant for the hill-tourism project. A special PMLA court in Mumbai meanwhile approved the restoration of property worth around ₹952 crore belonging to Vadraj Cement Ltd. in the long-running IL&FS case, allowing creditors to monetise the cement maker’s productive assets. The agency also searched 17 sites across Karnataka and other states tied to a suspected seat-blocking scam at private engineering colleges, including BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute and New Horizon College. Investigators are examining whether admission slots were illicitly sold for cash. Taken together, the week’s actions involve more than ₹1,500 crore ($180 million) in assets, underscoring the financial-crime watchdog’s stepped-up enforcement drive.