Chit fund case: ED attaches assets of Rajasthan firm

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 2.09 crore, including shopping complexes, of a Rajasthan-based company in connection with a chit fund money laundering case, the agency said Friday.

It said a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) attaching the assets of the firm Oro Trade Network India (Ltd), a multi-level marketing company, has been issued.

The total value of the attached assets is Rs 2.09 crore, it said.

The ED said it took over the case after taking cognisance of as many as 48 FIRs filed by the Rajasthan Police against the company and its directors under the Prize Chit and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act, 1978.

The central probe agency described the modus operandi of the case and said its investigation found that "the company and its directors conspired and lured a number of people to invest in their schemes by promising high returns and collected around Rs 44 crore in pursuance of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust."

It added that the company and its directors Satyendra Sharma and Sandhya Sharma acquired various immovable and movable properties "out of the proceeds of crime."

The ED has attached a total of Rs 7.55 crore properties in this case so far.

A charge sheet has also been filed by the ED in the case and the main accused Satyendra Sharma has been arrested and his bail has been rejected by the Rajasthan High Court, it said.