ED attaches assets worth over Rs 30 cr of Kerala realty group promoter

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 30 crore of the promoter of a Kerala-based realty group and concerns linked to him as part of a money-laundering investigation connected to an alleged bank loan fraud case.

A total of 62 immovable properties belonging to Heera Construction Company Private Limited, its managing director Abdul Rasheed, his trust Heera Educational and Charitable Trust and sister company Heera Summer Holiday Homes Private Limited have been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the central agency said in a statement.

The total value of these properties is Rs 30.28 crore, it added.

Heera Constructions Company Private Limited, Rasheed and the other accused cheated the State Bank of India's Kowdiar branch in Thiruvananthapuram by "fraudulently" selling the primary and collateral securities mortgaged with the bank and also "defrauded" in the repayment of loans, the ED alleged.

The accused generated "proceeds of crime" of Rs 34.82 crore by committing these offences, it said.

Rasheed was arrested by the ED in December last year and he is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.

The ED said Rasheed "committed the offence of money laundering by diverting funds received by selling other projects mortgaged with the SBI instead of utilising the same for repayment of loans taken against them".

The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Kochi on the basis of a complaint from the bank.