PMLA Case: ED to send LR to UK, UAE to seize Mirchi’s properties

In a bid to seize foreign properties linked to deceased gangster Iqbal Mohammed Memon, alias Iqbal Mirchi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has drawn up plans to send letters rogatory (LR) to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The agency has identified several properties bought with illegal money in these two countries, a police source said.

LR is a formal request from an Indian court to a foreign court, for judicial assistance.

Mirchi, who died in London in August 2013, was allegedly Dawood Ibrahim’s aide. In 2004, he was identified as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by the United States.

ED said the proceeds of crime was speedily and systematically invested in properties in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Cyprus, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, and Australia through Mirchi’s various businesses. Mirchi bought 14 properties in the UK, including nine flats and a penthouse at Richmond Road, a building in Roehampton, and the Dartford Hotel. In 2012, Mirchi bought a building in London’s St Swithin’s Lane.

The ED is investigating a case of money laundering that involves the sale of four Worli properties, and has filed a charge sheet in this regard.

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