ED attaches over Rs 40 crore assets of Supertech group on money laundering charges

NEW DELHI: Assets worth more than Rs 40 crore of real estate group Supertech and its directors have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday.

A provisional order was issued on Tuesday, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to attach 25 immovable properties located in Uttarakhand's Rudrapur and the 'Meerut Mall' in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, the federal agency said in a statement.

The total value of these attached assets is worth Rs 40.39 crore, it said.

The money laundering case against the Supertech group stems from a clutch of FIRs registered by the police departments in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

It was alleged, the ED said, that the company and its directors indulged in "criminal conspiracy" to cheat people by collecting funds from prospective buyers as an advance against booked flats in their real estate projects and failed to adhere to its agreed obligations to provide the possession of the flats on time.

Thus, according to the FIRs, the company "defrauded" the general public.

Probe found that the funds were collected by Supertech Ltd and group companies from homebuyers and also took project-specific term loans from banks/financial institutions for the purpose of construction of projects/flats, the ED alleged.

However, these funds were "misappropriated and diverted" for the purchase of land in the name of other group companies that were again pledged as collaterals to borrow funds from banks and financial institutions, it said.

The Supertech group also "defaulted" on its payments to the banks/financial institutions and currently around 1,500 crore of such loans have become NPA (non-performing asset), the ED said.