UP: ED attaches Rs 99.26 crore assets in Amrapali Group money laundering case

LUCKNOW: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 99.26 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the Amrapali Group money laundering case, officials said on Saturday.The attached assets include office premises, factory land and buildings belonging to M/s Mauria Udyog Ltd., an entity of the Sureka Group. The promoters of the Sureka Group—Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka—have been named in the investigation. The ED said the aggregate fair market value of the attached properties was assessed at Rs 99.26 crore as on December 30, 2016.The ED initiated the probe based on multiple FIRs registered at various police stations in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, and by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police. The investigation was also launched following a Supreme Court order dated July 23, 2019, in the case Bikram Chatterji & Others vs Union of India & Others. The petitions before the apex court were filed by aggrieved homebuyers of the Amrapali Group.According to the allegations, the Amrapali Group collected large sums of money from homebuyers but failed to deliver flats within the stipulated time. The group is accused of fraudulently diverting and misappropriating homebuyers’ funds through a criminal conspiracy involving bogus transactions, forgery and cheating.The ED’s investigation revealed that key accused persons—Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar, directors of the Amrapali Group—acted in connivance with Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka, directors of M/s Mauria Udyog Ltd. and M/s Jotindra Steel & Tubes Ltd. The probe found that homebuyers’ funds were siphoned off through non-genuine and fraudulent transactions under the guise of procuring TMT bars and other construction materials.Investigators said the funds were further layered through a complex network of shell entities and bogus suppliers, with substantial amounts withdrawn in cash and irreversibly dissipated. This process, the ED said, led to the generation and laundering of Proceeds of Crime (PoC).Further investigation in the case is underway.