Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Tuesday arrested Durga Prasad, an agent who had acquired more than 100 properties on behalf of Shine City group of companies, in connection with an ongoing investigation of a money laundering case against the real estate group under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
He was sent summons and asked to appear in Lucknow from where he was arrested after his credentials were verified and prima facie it was found that he had a hand in crime.
A local PMLA court also granted six-day custody of the accused to ED. ED sources said that the agency is seeking to extradite Rasheed Naseem from Dubai who carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the arrest. He is the owner of the real estate firm, which had duped investors of Rs 1000 crore.
ED initiated investigation based on approximately 250 FIRs registered by Uttar Pradesh Police against Rasheed Naseem and Shine City Group of Companies, wherein they had collected huge amount of money (approximately) Rs 800-1000 crore from the public in the name of investment, promised huge returns on the investment and finally cheated the public by way of committing fraud.
An officer privy to the probe said that the investigation revealed that there were many agents who have worked and have been working for Shine City group of companies to lure the investors and helped Rasheed Naseem and Shine City in generation of the proceeds of crime.
ED probe also revealed that the proceeds of crime were transferred to various other companies and individuals. These properties were purchased using the proceeds of crime. This is the third arrest in this case. Earlier ED had arrested one Shashi Bala and Abhishek Kumar Singh. ED investigation till now has resulted in attachment of properties worth Rs 128 crore and collection of incriminating documents during the search action.
