ED attaches Immovable Property worth Rs.20.96 Crore to the Managing Director of IFFCO

Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached proceeds of crime in the form of immovable assets valued at Rs. 20.96 Crore belonging to Udai Shanker Awasthi, Managing Director of IFFCO, in its ongoing investigations against Directors of IFFCO & Indian Potash Limited (IPL) and others. The attached properties include residential houses in New Delhi (including the residential property located at Hauz Khas Enclave which he had got transferred to himself from IFFCO), Gurugram, and Himachal Pradesh under Section 5 of Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 on 02.06.2022. Earlier, ED had attached movable assets (FDRs) valued Rs. 27.79 Crore in the name of Amarendra Dhari Singh, USD 4754606 (approx. Rs. 36.55 Crore as per prevailing exchange rate) lying in the Swiss Bank Accounts of Atrium Holdings Limited and Artistic Holdings Limited (both beneficially owned by Pankaj Jain) and residential & commercial properties valued at Rs. 54.11 lakh belongs to Pankaj Jain in this case. Thus, the total attachment, in this case, comes to about Rs. 86 Crore so far.

On the basis of a case filed by the CBI under RC221/2021/E/0009 dated 17.05.2021 against various suspects, including Udai Shanker Awasthi, MD IFFCO, Pankaj Jain, Promoter of M/s. Jyoti Trading Corporation and Rare Earth Group, Dubai, Amarendra Dhari Singh, and others for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal misconduct, the ED launched a money-laundering investigation.

According to ED investigations, Udai Shanker Awasthi and others in IFFCO generated Proceeds of Crime and stacked them through numerous unconnected entities, with a portion of the PoC being transferred to entities owned by Udai Shanker Awasthi and others.

On July 30, 2021, the ED filed a Prosecution Complaint before the Hon’ble Special Court against six defendants, and the offence was taken into consideration by the Hon’ble Court. The Hon’ble Court also held that all accused persons intentionally assisted/were knowingly involved in the acquisition of proceeds of crime and, as a result, were liable to be summoned for the stated offence, and issued summonses to the accused persons. further research is still being carried out.