ED Hyderabad leads the country with 49 prosecution complaints in 2024-25; restores major assets in Agri Gold, Musaddilal Jewellers, and Gitanjali Gems cases
Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Hyderabad zone has bagged an award for topping the country by filing the most chargesheets — prosecution complaints — in the court during the financial year 2024-25. ED Hyderabad zone joint director Rohit Anand received the award from Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary during the ED Day celebrations in New Delhi.
During the financial year, out of 333 prosecution complaints filed by the ED, the Hyderabad zone filed 49 of them.
During the last financial year, the ED has given back properties, which were attached from the accused firms worth Rs 15,000 crore, to victims. Out of this, the Hyderabad zone returned more than Rs 6,000 crore to the victims. Most of this comes from properties attached from the Agri Gold and other cases.
Speaking at the event, ED director Rahul Navin on Thursday said that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was left “largely ineffective” before 2014, and the slowdown in adjudication of these cases could be attributed to the “general delay” in the judicial system coupled with the inherent complexity of such investigations.
Navin also pointed out that the ED had achieved a “commendable conviction” rate of 93.6 per cent; out of the 47 cases decided by courts, there had been only three acquittals. He said one of their focus areas this year would be to undertake efforts to complete the probe and file “final” chargesheets quickly.
He said the total “criminal” property attached by the ED was worth only Rs 5,171 crore till March 2014, with the first chargesheet filed only in 2012 under the 2003 law. “After 2014, however, there has been a significant step-up in enforcement activity. From 2014 to 2024, 5,113 new PMLA investigations were initiated, averaging more than 500 cases per year,” Navin said.
“Building on this momentum, we note with satisfaction that in the financial year 2024-25, 775 new PMLA investigations were launched, 333 prosecution complaints were filed and, notably, 34 individuals were convicted,” the ED director said .
Navin also said the process to restitute or restore assets to the victims of financial crimes will “accelerate”.
Although these assets earned through criminal activities have been secured through provisional attachment and seizures, a substantial portion remain “unproductive” until their final confiscation by courts, which is a time-consuming process, he said.
To unlock the “economic potential” of these assets and to “compensate” victims and legitimate owners, concerted efforts have been undertaken by the ED for the restitution of these properties under the non-conviction-based confiscation and restitution provisions available under the PMLA and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), Navin said. He said that with the approval of the courts, restitution of Rs 15,261 crore was done in 30 cases during 2024-25.
In four sensational cases, the ED officials obtained directions from the court to restore attached properties worth Rs 3,511 crore in refunding to victims/ customers who invested in Ponzi scams, real estate and other cases.
The ED obtained the court directions in four cases, such as Agri Gold case, Sheetal Refineries, Musaddilal Jewellers and GS Oils. The agency officials also restituted Rs 2,565 crore of Mehul Choksi's properties in Gitanjali Gems in PNB fraud linked to Hyderabad.
Speaking about the FEOA, he said this law of 2018 was a “significant” step in India's efforts to combat economic offences, particularly those committed by individuals who believe that fleeing the country will “shield” them from justice.
Landmark cases being probed by Hyderabad ED
Nowhera Shaik and Heera Group:
In an investment fraud case, Heera Group promoter Nowhera Shaik, along with others, cheated the public by promising exorbitant returns on investments. The funds were routed through numerous shell companies floated under the Heera Group banner. During the course of a trial, the Supreme Court directed the accused to provide a list of properties which are encumbrance-free and directed ED to auction two properties valued at Rs 201 crore to settle investors’ claims.
Musaddilal Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. and Others
Musaddilal Gems and Jewels Private Ltd and Vaishnavi Bullion Private Ltd deposited Rs 57 crore and Rs 40 crore respectively in their bank accounts after the demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes, claiming them as proceeds from genuine business transactions. During the investigation it was revealed that the forged documents were used to portray the illicitly acquired money as genuine.
Agri Gold Group
The Agri Gold Group lured innocent investors by offering them plots at an “offer price” with the promise of either land at higher value or money return with huge appreciation upon maturity. The firm collected deposits under pre-defined lock-in periods and followed a money circulation scheme on an MLM pattern, using new investor funds to repay earlier investors. The collected amounts were diverted to unrelated businesses like power, infra, software, and mining, and several properties were acquired in personal/benami names of promoters. ED filed an application before the Special Court (PMLA) seeking restoration of assets having market worth of Rs 6,000 crore for redistribution to defrauded investors.
