Imphal: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached two immovable properties worth around Rs 1.99 crore in Manipur’s Kangpokpi and Imphal East districts in connection with a money laundering investigation involving former Customs and Central Excise inspector Seikholen Kipgen and his wife, Vahneithiem Lucy Kipgen.
According to an ED statement, the properties include land and residential buildings and have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The action follows a disproportionate assets case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Anti-Corruption Branch in Imphal under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI alleged that Kipgen possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the period from January 1, 2015, to December 3, 2021. A chargesheet in the case was filed before a Special Court on December 22, 2022.
The ED said its investigation found that Kipgen had allegedly accumulated about Rs 1.99 crore in unaccounted assets during the period under investigation.
According to the agency, Kipgen allegedly handed over cash to his father-in-law for safekeeping. The money was later deposited into the father-in-law’s bank accounts and transferred to Kipgen, his wife and other individuals, or used to make direct payments to vendors on Kipgen’s instructions.
The ED alleged that part of the money was used to purchase land in his wife’s name and construct a residential house. The transactions were allegedly presented as monetary gifts from Kipgen’s father-in-law.
However, the agency said its investigation indicated that the father-in-law did not have sufficient independent financial resources to make such substantial gifts.
One of the properties attached by the ED is registered in Seikholen Kipgen’s name, while the other is registered in his wife’s name. The investigation into the alleged money laundering remains ongoing.