ED Continues Crackdown On Black Money, Seizes Swiss Bank Assets Of Dabur India, Emaar MGF Directors

Continuing its relentless pursuit against illegal assets of resident Indians stashed abroad, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday (15 December) announced that it has seized assets worth Rs 20.87 crore from Dabur India Director Pradip Burman and properties worth Rs 10.28 crore of Emaar MGF Managing Director Shravan Gupta, IANS reported.

In a statement, the ED said that seizure order was issued pursuant to an investigation which revealed that Burman had deposited $3,212,000 in his account with Zurich branch of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), in Switzerland.

The agency said in a statement that money deposited was in contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and the amount has not been remitted to India to date. The ED added that Gupta’s assets were seized for holding $1,540,650 in HSBC, Switzerland in contravention of the FEMA act.

"Investigation conducted so far has revealed that Gupta had parked US$15,40,650 with HSBC, Switzerland and failed to produce any evidence of bringing the entire amount back to India to date," the agency said.

Infrastructure developer Emaar-MGF is a controversial company that is in the dock for a series of scams including alleged irregularities in the construction of the Commonwealth Games Village in Delhi. It also under investigation in Andhra Pradesh for an alleged scam in developing 535 acres of prime land on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

A CAG report had pointed out a bailout package of Rs 766 crore by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to Emaar MGF in the construction of nearly 1200 flats in Commonwealth Games Village. The Rs.183 crore bank guarantee furnished by EMAAR MGF was ordered to be confiscated on charges of irregularities.

In 2016, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya had written a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED asking the agencies to investigate a close aide of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Kanishka Singh for his proximity to the MGF group.

MGF had appointed Guido Ralph Haschke, one of the accused in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper deal, as a director in Emaar MGF Land Ltd.

Somaiya had also alleged that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had conducted a suspicious commercial transaction with Emaar MGF.

While Emaar MGF admitted that it had sold two shops to Rahul Gandhi in a Delhi shopping mall in December 2005, it claimed that the sale was at market rates and rejected allegations that they were leased or bought back by the company.

Emaar MGF said that it sold two shops at the Metropolitan Mall, in Saket, South Delhi, to Gandhi for about Rs 1.47 crore at the rate of Rs 9,750 per sq ft. The Congress Vice President later sold these shops in February 2010 to another company called Worli Realty Pvt Ltd.