ED attaches Rs 834 cr assets in money laundering case against Bhupinder Hooda, others

New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 834 crore located in 20 villages across Gurugram and Delhi in a money laundering case involving former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others, including EMAAR and MGF Developments Ltd.  

According to a statement issued by the ED on Thursday, the financial probe agency has provisionally attached immovable properties spanning 401.65479 acres and valued at Rs 834.03 crore belonging to EMAAR India Ltd. (Rs 501.13 crore) and MGF Developments Ltd (Rs 332.69 crore). 

Both EMAAR and MGF Developments are being investigated for money laundering in connection with a licence dated November 11, 2010, obtained from the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) for residential plotted colony in Sectors 65 and 66 in Gurugram.

The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, then Director, DTCP, EMAAR MGF Land Limited, and 14 other coloniser companies. 

The case involves cheating various landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana/HUDA, by getting notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and subsequently under Section 6 of the Act for the acquisition of lands which compelled the landowners to sell their land to the said coloniser companies at a lower price than the prevailing market rate, the ED statement said. 

Additionally, they fraudulently and dishonestly obtained Letter of Intents (LOIs)/licences on the notified land, causing loss to the respective landowners, the public at large, and the state of Haryana/HUDA, while wrongfully making gains for themselves.

On June 2, 2009, the government of Haryana had issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on 1417.07 acres of land in Gurugram. 

Subsequently, notification under Section 6 was imposed on approximately 850.10 acres of land out of 1417.07 acres of land on May 31, 2010. 

Therefore, during the period from June 2, 2009 to May 31, 2010, nearly 600 acres of land was released in patches from acquisition proceedings by the Haryana government for grant of LOIs/licences, the ED said.

On April 22, 2009, the joint venture of EMAAR Properties PJSC, Dubai, and MGF Developments Limited, i.e, EMAAR MGF Land Limited, applied for LC-1 for 112.46 acres of land for grant of licence for residential plotted colony in Sectors 65 and 66 in Gurugram. 

Land measuring 70.406 acres which was notified under Section 4 was released from acquisition proceedings by the DTCP and subsequently, LoI for land measuring 108.006 acres was granted to the company on May 31, 2010, after internal concurrence from the Haryana government. 

The ED investigation revealed that EMAAR MGF Land Limited had executed six ante-dated development agreements with the farmers for land measuring 27.306 acres, claiming that the said development agreements were executed in April 2009, but in reality, they were executed in March 2010. 

The investigation further revealed that the so called collaboration agreements were ante-dated and fabricated and were wrongly shown to have been entered into before the notification under Section 4 was issued to avoid any complications in getting the licence from the DTCP. 

Thus, EMAAR MGF Land Limited generated proceeds of crime in the form of licence on land measuring 25.887 acres having present value of Rs 1229.17 crore. 

The probe also revealed that acquisition of land for HUDA was never the real intent. It was only a scheme so that farmers who may or may not have sold their lands to the builders otherwise, were forced to give it to the builders under the disguise of one or the other agreement due to impending fear of acquisition proceedings.