ED attaches Rs 700 Crore assets linked to Iqbal Mirchi family

The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 700.27 crore linked to late gangster Iqbal Mirchi and his family, including prime Worli properties and Dubai real estate, in a money laundering and fugitive economic offenders case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 700.27 crore, including three prime properties in Mumbai’s Worli, in a case related to late gangster Iqbal Mirchi and his family members, officials said on Monday.

The attached properties Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge and Sea View  in Worli have been valued at around Rs 497 crore, while overseas assets in Dubai worth approximately Rs 203.27 crore have also been attached under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), an official statement said.

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According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the action stems from multiple FIRs registered by Mumbai Police against Iqbal Mohammad Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi under various sections of the IPC, Arms Act, TADA and NDPS Act.

The agency alleged that Mirchi, who had escaped to the UK, was involved in organised criminal activities, including drug trafficking, extortion and illegal arms activities.

The probe agency said its money laundering investigation revealed that the proceeds of crime generated from these activities were allegedly laundered through the acquisition of properties in India and abroad in the names of family members, associates and entities controlled by Mirchi.

The ED said the investigation found that the Worli properties belonging to the Sir Mohammad Yusuf Trust were purchased in 1986 through Rockside Enterprises for Rs 6.5 lakh and that the actual ownership and control allegedly remained with Mirchi and his family despite the properties continuing in the name of the trust on paper.

The agency also alleged that the trust, in conspiracy with Mirchi, misrepresented facts before a court and concealed material facts to secure the release of the properties from earlier attachment proceedings.

The investigation also revealed that the proceeds of crime were allegedly used to acquire overseas assets, including Hotel Midwest Apartment in Dubai and 14 real-estate units at Corporate Bay and DEC Towers in Dubai, in the name of Mirchi’s wife, Hajra Iqbal Memon, and sons, Asif Iqbal Memon and Junaid Iqbal Memon.

The ED said it has filed chargesheets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in Mumbai against Asif Memon, Junaid Memon, Hajra Memon and others in connection with the money laundering case.

The agency said the special PMLA court, through an order passed on February 26, 2021, declared all three as fugitive economic offenders under the FEOA. Considered a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Mirchi died of a heart attack in London on August 14, 2013, at the age of 63.