ED attaches Rs 45 crore assets of former NSG officer in fraud-linked money laundering case

Assets worth more than Rs 45 crore of a former NSG officer and his family members were attached in a case linked to alleged forgery of tender documents issued for undertaking civil works at the garrison of the 'black cats' commando force in Gurugram's Manesar, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday.

A provisional order for attaching fifty-two movable and immovable properties worth a total Rs 45.20 crore under the anti-money laundering law has been issued against Praveen Yadav and his family members, the agency said in a statement.

Yadav had joined the National Security Guard (NSG) on deputation from the Border Security Force (BSF) and was posted as a team commander (equivalent to deputy commandant rank) at the garrison of the commando force located at Manesar in Gurugram, near Delhi, it said.

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The alleged fraud in the name of giving NSG contracts came to the fore in January last year after the Gurugram Police arrested the NSG officer who was allegedly posing as an IPS officer working in the commando force, his wife Mamata Yadav, sister Rituraj, who was working as a manager in the Axis Bank sector 84 branch in Gurugram, and a few others, the ED said.

The police filed a total of five FIRs against the accused that also includes Dinesh Mohan Sorkhi, Kamal Singh, Koshia Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Naveen Khatodia, Axis Bank and unidentified persons, it said.

The agency said the probe found that Praveen Yadav opened a "forged" bank account in the name of EMD (earnest money deposit) for central warehouse NSG, Manesar with Axis Bank, Gurugram and had given forged documents to all the complainants (interested contractors) projecting these as documents to have been issued by the force for upcoming tenders for works at NSG campus.

"Through various accounts maintained by Praveen Yadav including bank account in the name of EMD for central warehouse NSG Manesar, he received money fraudulently from the complainants and cheated them," the ED alleged.

This money has either been "layered" through various bank accounts or invested in the trading accounts or been used for making payments for the purchase of movable and immovable properties with the help of Mamata Yadav, Rituraj Yadav, Naveen and Dinesh Kumar, it said.

The ED said it was found that the accused "diverted" the funds to purchase land and luxurious cars.

The NSG is a federal contingency force mandated to undertake counter-terrorism, counter-hijack, VVIP security and other specific security tasks and its armed commandos are known as 'black cats' due to the black coloured uniform worn by them.