ED freezes ₹7.5 crore in assets amid ₹168 crore fraud investigation
In addition to freezing the movable assets, the agency also seized various incriminating records and digital devices as part of the search process
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen movable assets worth ₹7.5 crore during searches conducted at multiple locations as part of its money-laundering probe into an alleged ₹168 crore fraud at the Dnyanraddha Multistate Co-operative Society Ltd (DMCSL).
The frozen assets included bank funds, demat account holdings and fixed deposits. In addition to freezing the movable assets, the agency also seized various incriminating records and digital devices as part of the search process. The ED conducted the searches on Friday and Saturday at various locations in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, as well as in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and Delhi.
The ED initiated its probe under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on various cases registered by police stations in Maharashtra. These cases, filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, 1999, relate to alleged fraud committed by Suresh Kute and others through DMSCL against investors. According to the police cases' contents and the ED's investigation to date, the tentative amount of fraud is estimated to be around ₹168 crore.
Agency sources said DMCSL was allegedly managed and controlled by a group of men under the probe's scanner, including Kute, Yashvant Kulkarni and others. The ED's investigation revealed that DMCSL had floated various deposit schemes to lure gullible investors by promising high returns, ranging from 12 to 14 per cent.
"However, the investors were cheated, and their funds were embezzled by the management of the society for their personal gains by hatching a criminal conspiracy," an ED source said.
The investigation also uncovered that Kute had allegedly, in connivance with Dibyayan Sharma, fabricated false documents projecting a structured investment. This scheme promised funding of ₹10,000 crores over five years from an overseas firm, Minventa Research, Luxembourg, through the securitisation of Kute Group's assets. Fraudulent documents related to this scheme were allegedly distributed among DMCSL investors to prevent them from pursuing legal action against Kute and others, with the false assurance that all investors would be repaid.
Agency sources said the probe also revealed that such fabricated documents were allegedly used as submissions before various judicial authorities, including a High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), in an attempt to mislead the authorities and present the Kute Group as financially solvent.
Last month, the ED had also frozen movable assets in the form of bank funds and demat account holdings worth around ₹1.73 crore during searches carried out at various locations in Navi Mumbai, Beed, Aurangabad and Pune in Maharashtra. The agency had also seized incriminating documents and digital devices. The total seizure in the case by the ED thus far is approximately ₹9.2 crore.