Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth Rs 22.42 crore of Iqbal Mirchi family

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached assets worth Rs 22.42 crore, including a cinema hall and a hotel in Mumbai, belonging to late gangster Iqbal Mirchi's family in connection with a money laundering case.

Besides the cinema hall and hotel, the assets provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act include an under-construction hotel, a farmhouse, two bungalows and 3.5-acre land.

The attached assets also include deposits kept in seven bank accounts, a statement by the ED said. Mirchi, who died in 2003, was said to be a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who was designated a global terrorist.

With this, the ED has attached assets worth Rs 798 crore of Mirchi family, including overseas properties worth Rs 203 crore.

The ED had earlier said that Mirchi was an international drugs dealer and smuggler who had amassed huge wealth and acquired various immovable properties and businesses across the globe. It was alleged that Mirchi "indirectly owned various properties in and around Mumbai".

The agency had filed a criminal case against Mirchi and his family last year in connection with their alleged illegal dealings in the purchase and sale of costly real estate in Mumbai.

Earlier, the ED had filed a charge-sheet in this case in a Mumbai court last December and the court had issued non-bailable warrants against Mirchi's sons Asif Memon and Junaid Memon and wife Hajra Memon.