The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, attached assets worth of ₹1.81 crore in a case involving the late builder Yusuf Mohammed Lakdawala and others who had conspired to illegally acquire land using forged documents. The assets are in the form of immovable properties in Maval and Lonavala and were seized under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the ED said in a press statement on April 06.
“ED initiated investigation based on an FIR registered by Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Mumbai, against Yusuf Mohammed Lakdawala, Mohan R. Nair, Deepak Gupta and others in relation to criminal conspiracy to illegally acquire a land by submitting forged documents and by destroying the relevant pages of the thumb register and index-II register of sub-registrar, Maval,” said ED officials.
EOW, Mumbai, had filed a chargesheet in the case against the accused. “ED investigation revealed that Yusuf M Lakdawala (since deceased), with dishonest intention, forged various documents related to the parcel of land and submitted the forged documents to the Revenue Department for making changes in the records of the said property to usurp the land. However, he remained unsuccessful as the forgery was caught and the fraudulent transfer of land remained unexecuted,” ED official said.
In April 2019, Lakdawala and his associate, Mohan R Nair, were booked on the complaint of Jitendra Badgujar, a sub-registrar in Maval taluka of Maharashtra, for cheating, forgery and conspiracy under sections 465, 466, 467, 468, 471, 420, 120-B and 201 of IPC and Section 82 of Indian Registration Act. A money laundering case was filed by the ED on the basis of the FIR registered by EOW.
ED arrested Lakdawala in May 2021 in a money laundering case. The agency said Lakdawala had used ₹2 crore as commission for payment to Mr. Nair in the guise of surrendering a power of attorney. A prosecution complaint was filed on July 23, 2021, in a special court in Mumbai under the provisions of PMLA.
“Cognizance of the prosecution complaint has already been taken by the special court. Further investigation is under progress,” the ED said.
Lakdawala died of cancer while he was in the Arthur Road Jail in September 2021.
