Kochi, March 17 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached an immovable property worth Rs 10.90 crore in Kerala in connection with a cheating and forgery case involving hotel project investments, officials said on Tuesday.
According to the agency, the action was taken by the Enforcement Directorate’s Kochi Zonal Office under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The attached property belongs to M/s Lokanta Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd, represented by its Director C.K. Vijayan and is located at Kannadikadu in the Maradu area of Ernakulam district. The attachment was carried out through a Provisional Attachment Order dated March 16.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered at the Maradu Police Station in Ernakulam against Vijayan and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to cheating and forgery.
According to officials, the FIR pertains to allegations that Vijayan induced investment of more than Rs 10.90 crore from the complainant, Preetha Radhakrishnan and her husband, in a hotel project linked to M/s Statice Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd.
The ED said the accused allegedly secured the investment through false representations, forgery of documents, concealment of facts and criminal breach of trust. The case was later reinvestigated by the Crime Branch–Economic Offences Wing in Ernakulam, and a final report was filed before the jurisdictional court in December 2024.
During the course of its investigation under the PMLA, the ED found that Vijayan, along with Shalini Vijayan and Saira Thampi Krishna, in their capacities as directors of M/s Lokanta Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd, had allegedly generated proceeds of crime amounting to approximately Rs 10.90 crore.
Officials said the proceeds of crime were diverted and layered through company bank accounts and were subsequently utilised for the construction of the hotel property.
Based on the evidence gathered, the ED initiated action under the PMLA, including the provisional attachment of the property and filing of a prosecution complaint before the Special Court (PMLA) in Ernakulam.
Further investigation in the case is currently underway, the agency said.
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