Money Laundering Case: ED Attaches 401.65479 Acre Lands Worth INR 834.03 Crore of EMAAR India Ltd and MGF Developments Ltd

New Delhi, August 29: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties, spanning 401.65479 acres and valued at Rs. 834.03 crore belonging to EMAAR India Ltd and MGF Developments Ltd, the agency said on Thursday. Among these attached properties, EMAAR India Ltd's assets are valued at approximately Rs 501.13 crore, while MGF Developments Ltd's assets are valued at around Rs 332.69 crore. ED's Delhi-based unit attached the properties which are in the form of land, located in 20 villages of Haryana's Gurugram district, and Delhi.

As er the ED, both EMAAR India Ltd and MGF Developments Ltd are being investigated for money laundering in connection with license no. 97/2010 dated September 18, 2010, obtained from DTCP ( Department of Town and Country Planning) for Residential Plotted Colony falling in Sector-65 and 66 of Gurgaon. ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director, DTCP, EMAAR MGF Land Limited and 14 other colonizer companies. SC on Bails in PMLA Cases: Bail Is Rule, Jail Is Exception Even in Money Laundering Cases, Says Supreme Court.

The case involves cheating various landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana and HUDA, by getting issued notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (LA Act) and subsequently under section 6 of LA Act for the acquisition of lands of respective landowners which compelled landowners to sell their land to said colonizer companies at a lower price than the prevailing price before the notification under section 4 of LA Act.

Additionally, the ED said, the accused fraudulently and dishonestly obtained the Letter of Intents (LOIs) and licenses on the notified land, causing loss to the respective landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana and HUDA, while wrongfully gaining for themselves. On June 2, 2009, ED said the Haryana government issued a notification under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 on 1417.07 acres of land comprising of sectors 58 to 63 and 65 to 67 of Gurugram. Subsequently, notification under Section 6 was imposed on approximately 850.10 acres of land out of 1417.07 acres of land on May 31, 2010. Therefore during the period from June 2, 2009, to May 31, 2010, nearly 600 acres of land were released in patches from acquisition proceedings by the Haryana government for grant of LOIs and licenses.

On April 22, 2009, the joint venture of EMAAR Properties PJSC, Dubai and MGF Developments Limited, which is EMAAR MGF Land Limited, applied LC-1 application for 112.46 acres of land for grant of license for the residential plotted colony in sectors 65 and 66 of Gurugram and land measuring 70.406 acres which was notified under section 4 was released from acquisition proceedings by DTCP and subsequently LOI for land measuring 108.006 acre was granted to the company on May 31, 2010 after internal concurrence from Haryana government. Land for Job Money Laundering Case: Delhi Court Defers Order on Summoning Lalu, Tejaswi.

ED said the license bearing no. 97/2010 was granted to EMAAR MGF Land Limited on November 18, 2019. ED investigation revealed that EMAAR MGF Land Limited had executed six ante-dated development agreements with farmers for land measuring 27.306 acres claiming that the said development agreements were executed in the month of April 2009 but in reality, they were executed in the month of March 2010.

ED investigation further revealed that the so-called collaboration agreements were ante-dated and fabricated and wrongly shown to have been entered into before the notification under section 4 was issued so as to avoid any complications in getting the license from the DTCP. Thus, EMAAR MGF Land Limited generated proceeds of crime in the form of license on land measuring 25.887 acres having a present value of Rs 1229.17 crore .

ED investigation has revealed that the acquisition of land for HUDA was never the real intent. It was only a scheme so that farmers who may or may not have sold their lands to builders otherwise, were forced to give it to builders under the disguise of one or other agreement due to impending fear of acquisition proceedings.

Later on, EMAAR MGF Land Limited was split into M/s EMAAR India Limited and MGF Developments Limited having 60.11 per cent and 39.89 per cent share in combined properties. Thus, the immovable properties to the extent of Rs 501.13 crore in respect of EMAAR India Ltd 60.11 per cent of the remaining Proceeds of Crime) and Rs 332.69 crore in respect of M/s MGF Developments Ltd (39.89 per cent of the remaining PoC) has been provisionally attached.

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