ED attaches Rs 55.57 Crore assets linked to AAP leader Sanjeev Arora

The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth ₹55.57 crore belonging to AAP leader Sanjeev Arora, his family and associated entities in a money laundering probe linked to an alleged ₹100 crore GST fraud involving mobile phone sales and bogus export transactions

New Delhi: Assets worth Rs 55.57 crore belonging to arrested AAP leader Sanjeev Arora, his family, and a linked realty company have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday.

Arora, 62, was arrested by the central agency from his official residence in Chandigarh on May 9 in an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud case linked to mobile phone sales.

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The ex-Punjab minister is currently under judicial custody in a Haryana jail. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach bank accounts, fixed deposits, land, commercial premises and residential apartments in Ludhiana (Punjab), Gurugram (Haryana) and Chandigarh held in the names of Hampton Sky Realty Limited (HSRL), Sanjeev Arora, his family members and associated entities, the agency said in a statement.

It did not specify what portion of the assets belonged to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and his family. The ED stated that the total value of these properties is Rs 55.57 crore. Arora, a former CMD of HSRL, was the minister for Power, Industry and Commerce. After his arrest, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government allocated his portfolios to other ministers The ED alleged that HSRL reported mobile phone sales of Rs 157 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal year, including purported exports of about Rs 102.50 crore to two UAE-based entities: Fortbel Telecom FZCO and Dragon Global FZCO.

“The mobile phones were shown to have been procured locally from a network of supplier firms which were found to be largely shell/non-existent concerns, interlinked through a common mobile number and common e-mail IDs, and used merely to raise bogus invoices and provide accommodation entries without any actual movement of goods,” the agency said.

The exports, not backed by any genuine movement of goods, were shown to have been made to entities which were “beneficially controlled” by the same group of persons.

The total proceeds of crime quantified in the case are Rs 102.99 crore, with local sales still pending investigation.