New Delhi, Feb 14 Two properties worth crores of rupees belonging to a Ranger in Forest Department, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, were confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bhopal in a money laundering case, an official said on Friday.
The confiscated properties of Harishankar Gurjar are in the form of two independent houses situated at Minal Residency, Bhopal.
The ED initiated a money laundering investigation based on an FIR registered by the Lokayukta Police, Bhopal under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and IPC, 1860 against Harishankar and his wife Seema on the grounds that they have amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income, said a statement.
During the investigation, the ED found that the proceeds of the fraudulent activities were converted to various immovable properties.
These properties were provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA, 2002, and were subsequently confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority, PMLA.
Subsequently, the Special Court, PMLA, Bhopal, after conducting the trial under PMLA, vide its order dated 29.04.2023, convicted Harishankar Gurjar and Seema Gurjar and sentenced them to three years of rigorous imprisonment and also ordered the confiscation of the attached properties.
The confiscation order was subsequently upheld by the Madhya Pradesh High Court and thereafter by the Supreme Court through its order dated January 15, 2025, which includes the freshly seized two properties.
Accordingly, physical possession of the aforesaid properties has been taken by the ED, the official said.
In a separate case, the ED, Chandigarh zone, on Thursday conducted search operations under the PMLA, 2002, at various locations in Delhi, Rohtak in Haryana, Noida and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh as part of an ongoing investigation in the case of QFX Trade Ltd and others, running multi-level marketing scheme under the guise of forex trading.
Their Directors are Rajender Sood, Vineet Kumar and Santosh Kumar and one of the masterminds Nawab Ali.
The ED initiated an investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by Himachal Pradesh Police against QFX Company which had defrauded many investors through a fraudulent forex trading scheme.
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