M3M director sent to ED custody for alleged diversion of investors' funds

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday confirmed that it has arrested Roop Kumar Bansal, promoter-director of real estate firm M3M Group, for alleged diversion of Rs 400 crore from the investors.

After the arrest, Bansal was produced before a special PMLA court in Panckula, Haryana, which remanded him to seven-day ED custody.

The ED recently conducted raids at the premises of IREO Group and M3M Group over allegations of diverting and siphoning off Rs 400 crores from the investors.

During the search operations, luxury vehicles, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Bentley and Mercedes Maybach, with an acquisition value of Rs 60 crore, jewellery, bullion worth Rs 5.75 crore, cash amounting to Rs 15 lakh, and various incriminating documents, digital evidence, and books of accounts were seized.

Bansal's arrest was made in connection with the investigations against IREO Group and M3M Group on charges of diverting funds, misappropriating funds of investors, customers etc.

According to the ED, the owners, controllers, and promoters of M3M Group, namely Basant Bansal, Roop Kumar Bansal, Pankaj Bansal and other key individuals, deliberately avoided the investigation.

The ED has been investigating IREO Group based on multiple FIRs filed against it for diverting and misappropriating the funds of investors and customers.

"The ED's investigation revealed that a significant amount of money, running into hundreds of crores of rupees, was siphoned off through M3M Group as well. In one transaction, M3M Group received approximately Rs 400 crore from IREO Group through several shell companies in multiple layers. These transactions were shown in IREO's books as payments towards development rights," the ED said.

The ED also said that a land was owned by M3M Group, with a market value of around Rs 4 crore. Initially, M3M Group sold the development rights of the land to five shell companies against a payment of Rs 10 crore.

"It was claimed that these five companies were unrelated entities. However, investigation revealed that the five shell companies were operated by M3M Group. Subsequently, these companies sold the development rights of the same land to IREO Group for approximately Rs 400 crore. Once the amount of Rs 400 crore was received from IREO Group, the five shell companies transferred the funds to M3M Group through multiple shell companies and layers," the ED said.

The ED also stated that all the shell companies were owned and operated by M3M Group under the directions of its promoters, Basant Bansal, Roop Kumar Bansal and their family members.

"In this manner, IREO and M3M siphoned off approximately Rs 400 crore, which belonged to the investors and customers. The proceeds of crime remained with the M3M Group, which was used for other investments and to pay off liabilities. On the other hand, IREO Group made no efforts to develop the land and started to write off the investments every year," the ED said.

"Bansal played a key role in the completion of the said transactions. His custody had become necessary for the investigation. He had been avoiding the probe and was not responding to the summons issued by the ED on multiple occasions," it added.

--IANS

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