In a money laundering case, the ED seizes assets worth Rs 2.16 crore

The ED launched a money laundering investigation based on the FIR and two charging sheets filed by the CBI.

Digital Desk: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Thursday that it had attached immovable and movable assets totaling Rs 2.16 crore in connection with a money laundering case against Nava Diganta Capital Services Ltd and its group companies.

The ED's case is against its directors Anjan Kumar Baliyarsingh, Pradeep Kumar Pattnaik, Kartikeya Parida, as well as former directors Ramachandra Hansdah (former MP of Mayurbhanj in Odisha), Subarna Naik (former MLA of Keonjhar Sadar), and Hitesh Kumar Bagartti (erstwhile MLA, Khariar, Nuapada district in Odisha).

According to the ED, these assets include movable assets in the form of outlying balances totaling Rs 16 lakh held in 48 bank accounts at IDBI and Indian Bank, as well as immovable assets in the form of two land parcels totaling Rs 2 crore located in Narendrapur Mouza, Puri district (Odisha), and Kaipadar Mouza, Khordha district (Odisha) (Odisha).

The ED launched a money laundering investigation based on the FIR and two charging sheets filed by the CBI.

The ED discovered that Nava Diganta Capital Services Ltd. was collecting public deposits by issuing Redeemable Preference Shares and Non-Convertible Debentures (income debentures and wealth debentures) under the guise of paying higher interest by issuing money receipts and certificates to that effect without any authorization from any regulatory authority, including the RBI, SEBI, and others.

Nava Diganta Capital Services Ltd. was found to have misappropriated the invested funds and diverted them to its other group companies, Nava Diganta Projects Ltd. and Nava Diganta Properties Ltd.