Fresh Trouble For The Sahara Group, ED Seizes Lonavala Land Valued At ₹1,460 Crore

New Delhi: In fresh trouble for the Sahara group, the Enforcement Directorate, Kolkata, attached 707 acres of land in Aamby Valley City, Lonavala, Maharashtra, worth Rs 1,460 crore in a money laundering case, an official said on Tuesday.

The land was purchased in benani names with funds diverted from Sahara group entities, said the official, adding that the action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Also, searches were conducted under section 17 of PMLA wherein unexplained Rs 2.98 crore cash was seized, said the ED.

The ED launched an investigation based on three FIRs registered for cheating and conspiracy against Humara India Credit Co-operative Society Ltd (HICCSL) and others by Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan Police.

Another 500 FIRs have been filed against the Sahara Group entities and related persons, with more than 300 of them registered for offences that are scheduled under the PMLA, said the official.

The depositors alleged that they were cheated into depositing funds, forced to redeposit funds without their consent and were denied their maturity payments despite demanding maturity payouts several times.

The ED investigation revealed that the Sahara Group was running a Ponzi scheme through various entities such as HICCSL, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited (SCCSL), Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SUMCS), Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (SMCSL), Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd (SICCL), Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) and other Sahara group entities.

The group has cheated the depositors and agents by luring them with high returns and commissions, respectively and utilised the funds collected in a non-regulated manner without any information or control of the depositors.

The investigation indicated that the group manipulated the books of accounts to show repayment in a scheme, treating reinvestment as fresh investment in another scheme.

In order to perpetuate the Ponzi scheme, they continued to accept fresh deposits despite not being able to repay the existing maturity amount. A part of the collected money was diverted for creating benami assets, for their personal expenses and lavish lifestyle, the ED said.

During investigations, statements of various persons, including depositors, agents, employees of Sahara Group and other related persons have been recorded under Section 50 of PMLA.

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