Money laundering by Sahara group: ED attaches ₹1,460-cr Aamby Valley property

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has provisionally attached 707 acres of land in and around Aamby Valley City in Lonavala, worth around ₹1,460 crore, as part of its money laundering probe against the Sahara group.

The land was purchased under benami names with funds diverted from Sahara group entities, agency sources told Hindustan Times. The attachment was made after investigators came to know that the wife of a deceased holder of one such benami plot had attempted to sell it, but could not do so due to the real owner’s opposition, the sources added.

Developed by the Sahara group in the early 2000s, Aamby Valley City is located amidst the Sahyadri mountain range in Pune district. It is touted as “India’s first planned hill city” and includes an airstrip, helipads, large golf courses, artificial and natural lakes, villas, chalets and cottages for premium living.

The 707-acre property has been mired in financial and legal disputes since its early years including for diversion of funds collected by Sahara group-linked cooperative societies in violation of norms and non-payment of taxes.

On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement that a provisional order to attach the property had been issued by its Kolkata office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The probe by ED’s Kolkata unit was initiated on the basis of three cheating cases registered against Humara India Credit Co-operative Society Ltd (HICCSL) by police in Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan. The agency subsequently analysed over 500 first information reports (FIRs) registered against Sahara group entities, of which over 300 pertained to offences under the PMLA.

The ED’s probe revealed that the Sahara group had collected ₹24,000 crore from over 10 million investors through HICCSL and various other entities. The group had cheated depositors and agents by luring them with high returns and commissions, respectively, and utilised the funds in a non-regulated manner without intimating depositors.

The accused entities “avoided repayment and instead forced depositors to redeposit their maturity amount, switching or transferring deposits from one scheme or entity to another,” said the statement released by the ED on Tuesday.

In order to mask the diversion of funds, the group manipulated the accounts books by showing repayments under a scheme as fresh investment in another scheme, ED sources told HT. Entities associated with the group continued to accept fresh deposits despite not being able to repay existing investors, the sources added.

A part of the collected money was diverted for creating benami assets for funding the personal expenses and lavish lifestyle of certain accused, the agency said in its statement.

“The probe also found that the accused disposed of the assets of the Sahara group and received part of the payment in cash,” an official told HT.

As part of its money laundering probe, the ED has recorded the statements of various persons, including depositors, agents and employees of the Sahara Group and other related persons. The agency had in July last year conducted searches in Mumbai, Kolkata and Lucknow, wherein ₹2.98 crore accounted cash was seized.

HT on Tuesday sent an email to Sahara India and attempted to contact its offices based in Mumbai, Noida and Lucknow, as provided on its website, but could not reach any official for a comment on ED’s attachments and charges in the PMLA case.

With inputs from Joydeep Thakur