The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth around ₹1.88 crore of alleged conman and self-styled antique dealer Monson Mavunkal and his family members.
The assets were attached for being proceeds of crime under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. They included one residential premises, 10 KSFE term deposits/Sugama belonging to Monson and his family members.
The ED had initiated investigation on the basis of multiple first information reports registered by the Kerala Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against Monson and his accomplices.
The probe revealed that he had cheated various persons in the guise of a collector of antiques and artefacts, which did not have the antique value as claimed by him.
He also made people believe that a huge amount of money was lying in his bank account, which was received as proceeds of sale of artefacts, but were not given clearance as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. He had forged a bank statement for this purpose. Based on the above false representations, he had collected money from the complainants, according to a communication. The agency stated that further investigation was under progress.
