By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties worth approximately Rs 53.28 crore in connection with a money laundering case involving a Guwahati-based IPS officer, his family members and associated companies.
The attachment order for retired IPS officer Prashanta Kumar Dutta’s property has been issued by the ED’s Guwahati Zonal Office under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The attached assets include Hotel Bhargav, Hotel Bhargav Inn, Ishan Arcade at Lakhra Chariali, Hotel Bhargav Grand at Betkuchi in Guwahati, and two residential flats, including one at Samarth Deep in Andheri West, Mumbai.
According to a statement, issued by ED on Saturday, the investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Assam Police‘s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Branch under Sections 13(1)(b) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The FIR alleges that during his service between 1992 and 2019, Dutta gathered assets grossly disproportionate to his known sources of income. While the disclosed income of Dutta and his wife stood at around Rs 7.23 crore, their disclosed expenditure was approximately Rs 9.04 crore.
However, investigators allegedly found undisclosed assets worth about Rs 77.21 crore, with the net disproportionate assets estimated at around Rs 79.01 crore based on available records.
The ED said its probe under the PMLA revealed that the alleged proceeds of crime were laundered through three closely held companies-Mahamaya Estates Pvt. Ltd., Ishan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. and Murari Commodities Pvt. Ltd. Investigators found that the registered offices of these companies were non-existent.
The agency further alleged that unexplained cash amounting to Rs 14.75 crore was introduced into the accounts of Dutta’s family members and the companies. The funds were allegedly layered through fictitious shareholders, Kolkata-based shell entities and circular bank transactions before being invested in hotel properties in Guwahati and residential flats in Mumbai.
According to the ED, many of the persons shown as shareholders had no independent source of income and were unable to explain the origin of the funds attributed to them. The agency alleged that several shareholders were either fictitious or name-lenders.
According to ED, further investigation into the case is underway.