Guwahati, June 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth around Rs 53.28 crore in connection with a money laundering case against retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Prasanta Kumar Dutta, his family members and group companies, officials said on Saturday.
According to the ED, the Guwahati Zonal Office issued a Provisional Attachment Order under Section 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, covering multiple hotel properties in Guwahati and two residential flats in Mumbai allegedly acquired through proceeds of crime.
The agency said Dutta, who was promoted to the IPS from the Assam Police Service and retired as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in 2019, came under investigation following an FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Branch of Assam Police under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The offences are scheduled under the PMLA.
The FIR alleged that during his service period between 1992 and 2019, Dutta amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. While the disclosed income of Dutta and his wife stood at around Rs 7.23 crore and their disclosed expenditure was about Rs 9.04 crore, investigators allegedly found undisclosed assets worth approximately Rs 77.21 crore, with disproportionate assets estimated at around Rs 79.01 crore.
The ED claimed its investigation revealed that the alleged proceeds of crime were laundered through three closely held companies -- Mahamaya Estates Pvt Ltd, Ishan Commercial Pvt Ltd and Murari Commodities Pvt Ltd -- whose registered offices were found to be non-existent.
The agency alleged that over Rs 14.74 crore in unexplained cash was routed through family members and these companies using fictitious shareholders, shell entities based in Kolkata and circular bank transactions before being invested in hotel properties and residential flats.
Investigators further alleged that after his retirement, and despite the FIR and Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) already being in existence, Dutta transferred 3.7 lakh shares of Ishan Commercial Pvt Ltd from alleged dummy shareholders to his own name, making himself the majority shareholder in the company, which is the beneficial owner of three of the attached hotels.
The attached properties include Hotel Bhargav and Bhargav Inn in Paltan Bazar, Hotel Bhargav at Lokhra Chariali, Hotel Bhargav Grand at Betkuchi in Guwahati and two residential flats in Andheri (West), Mumbai. The ED said further investigation in the case is underway.
Source: IANS
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