Mumbai Court Allows Enforcement Directorate to Attach Additional Properties Linked to Iqbal Mirchi
A special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to attach additional properties linked to late underworld figure Iqbal Mirchi and his family under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018.
Key Points
- The ED was granted permission to attach properties detailed in Exhibit 'C' under Section 5(1) of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018.
- The court also allowed the filing of a supplementary application under Section 13 for inclusion of further assets identified during ongoing investigation.
- The attached properties include three prime land parcels in Mumbai's Worli area and overseas assets in Dubai.
ED Cites Fresh Findings in Application
The application was moved by the ED, Mumbai Zonal Office-I, which stated that the properties were identified during further investigation and were already part of ongoing attachment proceedings under the PMLA.
Assets Linked to Proceeds of Crime
- The ED alleges that these assets were acquired using proceeds of crime generated by Iqbal Mirchi and were held through proxies, including Sir Mohammad Yusuf Trust and family members.
- The agency informed the court that the accused had already been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders by the same court in February 2021.
Court Permits Attachment
The court noted that the properties had already been provisionally attached under the PMLA through orders passed in 2019 and 2020, which were subsequently confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority.
The court observed that there was "strong reason to believe" that the assets constituted proceeds of crime or benami properties owned by persons already declared as fugitive economic offenders.
Decision
Allowing the application, the court held that the ED was permitted to attach the properties under Section 5(1) of the FEO Act, subject to compliance with due process of law.