The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a resort and several other properties valued at approximately Rs. 4.92 crore belonging to a former field supervisor of the Gujarat Land Development Corporation (GLDC) in Gujarat’s Anand district, in connection with a money laundering investigation, officials said on Thursday.
In a statement, the ED’s Ahmedabad Zonal Office said the action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Dhirubhai Bababhai Sharma. The attached assets include a commercial shop, a residential house, agricultural land, and the Jalashray Resort located in Nadiad.
The central agency launched its probe based on a First Information Report registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) police in Anand district. Sharma has been booked under Sections 13(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs. 8.04 crore — about 354.56 per cent more than his known sources of income — during the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2018.
According to the ED, Sharma, along with his family members and their company, Jalashray Resort Private Limited, had availed both secured and unsecured loans during this period. The investigation revealed that loan repayments were largely made through cash deposits into multiple bank accounts.
The agency said that instead of using regular banking channels, large sums of cash were first deposited into bank accounts and then swiftly transferred to Krishna Finance towards loan repayments. This financial pattern, the ED noted, suggested a method of laundering funds by introducing cash into the banking system and subsequently using it to clear liabilities, thereby concealing the original source of the money.
Further, some repayments were allegedly routed through multiple accounts, complicating the transaction trail and pointing towards layering of funds to mask their origin, the agency added.
The ED said Jalashray Resort was set up on February 1, 2012, by Sharma’s wife and son on a 52-guntha parcel of land that was purchased in 2007 for Rs. 5.40 lakh. The resort initially received a secured loan of Rs. 5.50 crore, which was later enhanced with an additional loan of Rs. 7.85 crore in 2018.
Apart from this, Sharma and his family reportedly availed unsecured loans amounting to Rs. 1.19 crore between 2015 and 2020 for the development of the resort. The agency stated that the project was funded through a mix of loans, cash deposits, and transfers from various sources, including funds received from Preya Services, an entity in which Sharma’s daughter-in-law holds a 50 per cent stake.
The investigation also found that Sharma had insurance policies with LIC and Max Life in his own name and in the names of family members. Premiums for these policies were allegedly paid in cash, and the maturity proceeds were later credited to his personal savings bank account, the ED said.
Further investigation in the matter is ongoing.
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