New Delhi: In yet another significant crackdown on the underworld, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached properties valued over Rs 200 crore in the UAE belonging to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar’s late close aide Iqbal Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi in a money laundering case, officials said.
“We have attached around 15 properties of Mirchi and his family members, including in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, valued over Rs 200 crore, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” a senior ED official connected to the probe told IANS.
The official said that the attached properties in Dubai include Midwest Hotel Apartment and 14 other commercial and residential properties with a total value of Rs 203.27 crore.
The case pertains to Mirchi’s Mumbai properties, which have been marked as “proceeds of crime”.
According to officials, the ED had already identified Mirchi’s 30 properties in London, Dubai, and Mumbai valued to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore.
A criminal case was filed against Mirchi, his family members and others for alleged illegal dealings in the purchase and sale of Ceejay House, Sahil Bungalow, Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge, and Sea View properties in prime locations in Mumbai.
Ceejay House is located at Worli and Arun Chambers in Tardeo area of Mumbai, worth Rs 76 crore. Other properties are worth Rs 500 crore, including Sahil Bungalow, Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge, and Sea View in Worli, three commercial shops in Crawford Market, and five acres of land in Lonawala.
In December last year, the ED attached properties to the tune of Rs 573 crore in the case, with the figure now climbing up to over Rs 776 crore.
The ED has already questioned former Union Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra, and several others in the case.
The ED registered money laundering case against Memon and others in September last year.
The ED has so far arrested five accused, including Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan and Humayun Merchant. The agency filed a charge sheet in December last year in a Special PMLA court.
Open-ended Non-Bailable Warrants were issued by the court against Mirchi’s sons Asif and Junaid Memon and wife Hajra Memon. Mirchi fled to London in the mid-1980s and passed away in 2013.
