ED files money laundering case against Amrapali Group, promoters

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against Amrapali Group and its promoters, who allegedly failed to give possession of flats to over 42,000 buyers in Noida and Greater Noida, officials said on Tuesday.

An ED official on Tuesday said the agency registered a case of money laundering on July 1 on the basis of 16 FIRs filed by the Noida Police.

The official said the financial probe agency was looking to grill the promoters of the group and find their assets, which can be attached on charges of contravening the anti-money laundering law.

The official said that the agency will call its promoters for questioning in the coming days.

Incidentally, the Supreme Court also directed the ED today to register a money laundering case against the company, its CEO and Managing Director (CMD) Anil Sharma, and directors Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar for violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.

The court observed that Amrapali Group's top management diverted homebuyers' money to build their personal assets, instead of completing its housing projects.

"The top management of Amrapali Group siphoned off the money to foreign countries," said the court. "Noida and Greater Noida authorities were negligent in monitoring the progress of the project," it added.

Amrapali Group promoter Anil Sharma had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a Janata Dal-United (JD-U) ticket from Bihar's Jehanabad constituency.
IANS