ED attaches ₹99.26 crore Sureka Group assets in Amrapali PMLA case, total seizure at ₹303.08 crore

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday provisionally attached immovable properties worth ₹99.26 Crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the case concerning the Amrapali Group's fraud against homebuyers. This latest action brings the cumulative value of properties attached in this case so far to ₹303.08 Crore, the agency said in a statement.

The newly attached properties include the office and factory land & building of M/s Mauria Udyog Ltd., which is one of the entities of the Sureka Group. The properties, whose promoters are Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka, had an aggregate fair market value of ₹99.26 Crore as on December 30, 2016, according to a statement issued by the agency. 

The ED initiated the investigation based on multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) registered in Uttar Pradesh (Gautam Budh Nagar) and by the EOW of Delhi Police, and also pursuant to a Supreme Court order dated July 23, 2019. The allegations state that the Amrapali Group collected huge sums from homebuyers but failed to deliver possession of flats, instead diverting and misappropriating the funds through a criminal conspiracy involving bogus transactions, forgery, and cheating, the ED said in its statement.

The ED's investigation revealed that the accused promoters—namely 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., to divert the homebuyers’ funds. The funds were allegedly diverted under the guise of procurement of TMT bars and construction material. It was established that an amount of Rs. 110.39 Crore was diverted to M/s Mauria Udyog Ltd, the agency stated in an official release.

The funds were layered through a complex web of shell entities and bogus suppliers, withdrawn substantially in cash, and irreversibly dissipated, thereby generating and laundering the Proceeds of Crime (POC). Since the original POC was dissipated, the ED attached the aforesaid immovable properties on the principle of “value thereof” under the PMLA, 2002, to secure the funds, as per the statement issued by the ED.

Previously, the ED had arrested Anil Sharma, Shiv Priya, and Ajay Kumar, Directors of the Amrapali Group, along with Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor, and Chander Prakash Wadhwa, CFO. The agency has so far filed six Prosecution Complaints in this case and passed a total of six Provisional Attachment Orders, with a cumulative value of Rs. 303.08 Crore.

The agency stated that further investigation in the case is under progress.