Punjab property fraud: ED restores Rs 20 crore to two banks

Jalandhar, Feb 10:  In a money laundering case related to fraud with property buyers, the ED has restituted six attached immovable properties valued at Rs 20.21 crore to the State Bank of Patiala and Catholic Syrian Bank, an official said on Tuesday.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, said the restored properties of Nature Heights Infra and its officials are valued at around Rs 20.21 crore as per the sale deed; however, their present market value is around Rs 50 crore.

An official statement said that the properties were restituted as per the Special PMLA Court, Mohali, order delivered on February 6.

The attached immovable properties, for which restitution has been allowed by the Special Court, include commercial properties located in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab, the ED said.

The ED action was taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, said the statement.

The properties were attached in connection with a money laundering investigation related to defrauding of investors by Nature Heights Infra and its Director Neeraj Thatai alias Neeraj Arora, said the statement.

The ED arrested Arora on October 8, 2024. He is currently in judicial custody, it said.

The federal probe agency had initiated its investigation under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, based on multiple FIRs registered by Punthe jab Police under various sections of India Penal Code, 1860, against Neeraj Arora and his company and others for defrauding investors.

The ED investigation revealed that Arora had duped a large number of innocent investors of their hard-earned money on the pretext of allotment of properties.

It was found that the properties purchased by Arora were registered/bought through money collected from investors without providing them with land or a refund/returning of money, the ED said.

Many of the bank accounts of Arora and Nature Heights Infra and group companies had been credited with the hard-earned money of investors and utilised for the purchase of properties and for personal expenses, the ED said.

During the investigation, provisional attachment of assets valued at Rs 46.02 crore, including bank balances and agriculture/commercial land located at various locations in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, was undertaken with a confirmation by the Adjudicating Authority for PMLA, the ED said.

A chargesheet in the case was filed on October 29, 2020, and a supplementary chargesheet was filed on December 5, 2024, the ED said.

--IANS