In a major relief to NCP leader Praful Patel, a Mumbai Tribunal has quashed an Enforcement Directorate(ED) order seeking the attachment of his Rs 180-crore Mumbai flats in a money laundering case.
The Appellate Tribunal for Safema, dealing with cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, by an order of June 3, quashed the attachment of multiple flats owned by him on the 12th to 15th floors of Ceejay House in Worli, Mumbai, worth over Rs 180 crore.
ED had attached at least seven flats in Ceejay House owned by Patel, his wife Varsha and their company Millennium Developers in 2022, which was later confirmed by the PMLA’s adjudicating authority.
ED had alleged that the properties were acquired from the widow of late drug lord Iqbal Mirchi through illegal transactions. Quashing this attachment order on Monday, the appellate tribunal said ED’s actions against the Patels were illegal since these properties were not involved in money laundering, or linked to Iqbal Mirchi.
Patel was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in the past in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal assets of Mirchi.
Patel, who was with Sharad Pawar at that time, had claimed there wasn’t even a “single paisa worth property transaction”.
Comments
0 comment