The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday stated it has frozen assets price Rs 143 crore of distinguished Kerala-based NBFC Manappuram Finance Ltd’s MD and CEO V P Nandakumar after it carried out raids as half of a money laundering investigation.
A complete of six premises in Thrissur, the place the corporate is headquartered, had been coated in the course of the searches that had been launched on Wednesday.
The case pertains to allegations of money laundering by means of “unlawful” assortment of deposits from the general public, the company stated in an announcement.
During the course of searches, the ED stated, it was discovered that the proceeds of crime have been “diverted and invested” by V P Nandakumar into immovable properties in his title, in the title of his partner and kids and into the shares of Manappuram Finance Ltd.
“Hence, ED has freezed the assets of V P Nandakumar underneath the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), totalling Rs 143 crore,” it stated.
The frozen assets embody deposits saved in eight financial institution accounts, funding in listed shares and shares of Manappuram Finance Limited, the company stated.
Various “incriminating” paperwork exhibiting money laundering and property paperwork of 60 immovable properties had been additionally seized in the course of the course of the searches, it stated.
It claimed that “proof” concerning money laundering and large-scale money transactions in the shape of public deposits, executed by V P Nandakumar by means of his proprietary agency Manappuram Agro Farms (MAGRO), with out RBI approval, have been recovered.
The deposits had been “illegally” collected by Nandakumar at varied department workplaces of Manappuram Finance Limited, a listed firm, by means of some of its workers, it stated.
“The excellent illegally collected deposits, that are the proceeds of crime, have been detected to be Rs 143 crore.
“When RBI detected the identical and directed to return the quantity to the depositors, the accused have responded to RBI that they’ve returned the money to the depositors however ED investigation revealed that there is no such thing as a proof of reimbursement or no KYC of the depositors,” the ED alleged.
Deposits of Rs 53 crore are proven to have been returned in money, however with no proof of reimbursement or KYC, it stated.
The company stated that the function of the chief finance officer (CFO) of Manappuram Finance Limited and different workers, who’re suspected to have assisted in the offence of money laundering, are being investigated.
Manappuram Finance Ltd, a non-banking monetary firm (NBFC), provides a string of merchandise like on-line gold mortgage, micro-home finance, foreign exchange and money switch, enterprise mortgage, secured private mortgage amongst others.
