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ED seizes unlisted shares worth Rs 293.91 cr of ‘MGM’ Maran

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 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has seized assets worth Rs 293.91 crore belonging to Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s (TMB) former Chairman Nesamanimaran Muthu alias MGM Maran under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

According to the ED, the seized assets are in the form of shareholdings in four Indian companies, namely, the Southern Agrifurane Industries Private Ltd, Anand Transport Private Ltd, MGM Entertainment Private Ltd, and MGM Diamond Beach Resorts Private Ltd.

Incidentally, the three of the companies are unlisted entitites.

The ED said Maran had incorporated two companies in Singapore during 2005-06 and 2006-07 and invested Singapore $5,29,86,250 equivalent to Indian Rs 293.91 crore, but the investment was made without Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) permission and non-disclosure to Indian regulators.

According to the agency, the provisions of Section 37A(1) empowers it to seize Indian asset of a person who has acquired assets in foreign country or made investment outside India without the approval of the RBI while he was a person resident in India.

Since the amount of foreign investment was SGD 5,29,86,250, the assets of equivalent value thereof of Rs 293.91 crore has been seized, it said.

Last year, the Adjudicating Authority under the FEMA had levied a penalty of Rs 35 crore on Maran for opening a bank account in Singapore and receiving foreign exchange to the tune of US$ 68,50,000 (equivalent to Rs 28.08 crore) in that account from a foreign entity.

The said payment is the consideration for facilitating and assigning the rights towards transfer of shares of the TMB in favour of Katra Holdings Ltd, consequent to a private agreement with that company. The penalty is also for failing to repatriate the said foreign exchange into India, the ED had said then.

The Adjudicating Authority had also fined Standard Chartered Bank Rs 100 crore and the TMB Rs 17 crore.

The ED had taken up the probe under FEMA based on reference received from the RBI to investigate advance remittances received by certain entities for purchase of the shares of the Tuticorin-headquartered TMB through escrow mechanism maintained with Standard Chartered Bank, Mumbai.

Following the probe, the ED had issued show cause notice to the TMB, its directors, Standard Chartered Bank and one of its officials for contravening FEMA.

In his adjudication order, the Special Director, ED, Southern Region imposed a penalty of Rs 11.33 crore on the TMB for recording in its books the transfer of 46,862 shares of the bank in the names of seven foreign entities viz. (i) RST Ltd (wholly owned by Ravi S. Trehan), Katra Holdings Ltd (wholly owned by Ramesh Vangal), GHI I Ltd (wholly owned by Rajat Gupta), Kamehameha (Mauritius) Ltd, FI Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, Cuna Group (Mauritius) Ltd, and Swiss Re Investors (Mauritius) Ltd.

The above seven entitities were not approved by the RBI for acquiring the shares of TMB.

A further penalty of Rs 5.66 crore was imposed on the TMB for its act of recording in its books, the subsequent transfer of 27,289 shares out of the above 46,862 shares in the names of two foreign entities – Sub-Continental Equities Ltd, Mauritius and Robert & Adris James Company Ltd, Mauritius, without the permission of the RBI.

Penalty has also been imposed on the directors of the Board of the TMB, who approved the recording of the transfer of shares of the bank.

The Standard Chartered Bank was held guilty of contravening FEMA for opening the Standard Chartered Bank Project Windmill (Sale Consideration) Escrow Account, without the RBI’s prior permission and for allowing deposits of Rs 113 crore and for having held 1,12,151 shares of the TMB in the said escrow account.

A penalty of Rs 34 crore was levied on the bank for the above contraventions.

Another Rs 66 crore penalty was levied on the Standard Chartered Bank for providing collateral/guarantee/taking into custody of TMB shares and original sale deeds of land in lieu of which Standard Chartered Bank, Mauritius granted a loan of US$ 55.40 million (equivalent to Rs 221 crore) to three foreign entities viz, Katra Holdings Ltd, Mauritius, RST Ltd, Cayman Islands, and GHI I Ltd, Cayman Islands, without any special permission from the RBI.

Crime

Mumbai: Man Stabbed To Death After He Intervenes To Settle Dispute In Sion Koliwada; Antop Hill Police Arrest 5

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Mumbai: Man Stabbed To Death After He Intervenes To Settle Dispute In Sion Koliwada; Antop Hill Police Arrest 5

Mumbai: A 22-year-old was murdered in the early hours of Friday in Mumbai’s Sion Koliwada area after an argument broke out over noise pollution. The Antop Hill police have registered an FIR in the case and so far five people have been arrested and further investigation is underway.

The incident took place around 12:30 am in Kokri Agar In Jai Maharashtra Nagar, Antop Hill. Vivek Gupta (22) was attacked with a knife and he succumbed to his injuries. As initial information available, a group of people were making noise causing disturbance on the street which lead to an argument broke out. Gupta had gone to resolve the dispute between the accused, however, angered over his interference, Gupta was attacked.

What started as a small fight soon escalated and Gupta was attacked with a knife. He was immediately taken to Sion Hospital, however, he succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 am. The senior police officers of Mumbai Police Zone 4 were present at the hospital. The cops have so far arrested five suspects connected to this incident, and further investigation is underway.

The arrested accused are: Karthik R Mohan Devendra, Karthik Kumar Devendra, Vicky Muttu Devendra, Miniappan Ravi Devendra and the wife of Karthik R Mogan, the police informed. The case is registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

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Crime

Mumbai: 6 Booked For Defrauding Stock Trader Of ₹1.5 Cr In Bitcoin Investment Scam

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Mumbai: The Bandra police have registered an FIR against six persons for allegedly defrauding a stock trader of nearly Rs 1.50 crore in a Bitcoin investment scam. The suspects fled even before the case was filed, prompting a manhunt. They have been identified as Abur Sode, Dhanjibhai Rawaria, Jishan Shaikh, Indrajit Latif, Abdul Latif, and Ramkumar Dharmak, all from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

The complainant in the case, Yogesh More, 50, is a resident of Parel and operates a stock trading business in the Marwari area in Bandra West. He met the accused three years ago, during which they introduced themselves as representatives of a company called Friptex Finsol, claiming to offer Bitcoin as a virtual currency.

Trusting them, More transferred around Rs42 lakh in cash and Rs1.08 crore via cheque to various bank accounts associated with the company for Bitcoin purchases between November 2021 and October 2024. Despite these payments, he did not receive the promised Bitcoins, and after multiple inquiries, the accused continued to evade him. Over the last three years, neither the Bitcoins nor a refund was provided.

Complaint Lodged At Bandra Police Station

Suspecting fraud, he began investigating and discovered that Friptex Finsol was a bogus company, and the accused had orchestrated a scam. He then lodged a complaint with the Bandra police. Following an initial inquiry, the police registered a case against six persons under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A police officer said that the accused are from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. “The preliminary inquiry has not revealed any past criminal history. We are searching for the accused,” the officer added.

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Crime

West Bengal: Youth Arrested For Rape Of Deaf & Mute Woman In South 24 Parganas’ Kultali

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Kolkata: A youth was arrested on the charges of raping a deaf and mute woman at a deserted building in Kultali in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

Even as the main accused in the case has been arrested, the local people had been agitating claiming that a local Trinamool Congress panchayat chief Prahlad Nashkar allegedly pressurised family members of the victim to settle the matter against Rs 2,00,000.

However, Nashkar has denied the allegations, saying he was the first to reach the spot and inform the family members of the victim about the incident.

Complaint Filed

The victim’s family members filed a complaint on Wednesday evening. Thereafter, the police started an investigation and based on circumstantial evidence, the accused youth was arrested.

He will be presented at a district court in South 24 Parganas on Thursday only and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody, a district police official said.

Part Of Kultali & Jaynagar Turn Into Virtual Battlefields

In the first week of this month, part of Kultali and adjacent Jaynagar turned into virtual battlefields over violent protests by the local people over the rape and murder of a minor girl there.

At that point in time, the main allegation of the local people was against the police and the latter ignored the missing complaint by the parents of the victim. The local people also alleged that had the police been active in tracking the victim minor, the heinous crime could have been averted.

The protesters became violent and attacked the police station. A local police camp was ransacked and set on fire. The police had to resort to massive lathi-charge to dispel the mob then.

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