ED attaches properties worth Rs 1.15 crore in DA case against former GLDC field assistant
Surat: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 15 immovable properties worth around Rs 1.15 crore in Gujarat and Maharashtra in a money laundering case involving Valiya Shibabhai Zunzabhai alias Bhupatbhai, a former Field Assistant with the Gujarat Land Development Corporation Ltd (GLDC), the agency said on Wednesday.
The properties, located in Mahuva and Talaja in Bhavnagar district, Odhav and Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, and Hadapsar in Pune, have an aggregate value of Rs 1,14,98,600, according to the ED.
The Surat Sub-Zonal Office of the agency attached the properties on September 21 under Section 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Police Station in Bhavnagar, and a chargesheet filed before the Special ACB Court, Bhavnagar, against Zunzabhai.
The case relates to alleged acquisition of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income while he was a public servant.
According to the ED, its investigation revealed that Zunzabhai had acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income amounting to Rs 1,15,18,350.
The underlying case was registered under Sections 13(1)(b) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Following its investigation, the ED identified 15 immovable properties allegedly linked to the proceeds involved in the case and provisionally attached them.
The total value of the properties is approximately Rs 1.15 crore, broadly corresponding to the disproportionate assets identified during the probe.
The agency said the attachment has been made as part of proceedings under the PMLA and that the investigation into the case is continuing.
The provisional attachment does not by itself constitute a final confiscation of the properties.
Under the PMLA framework, an attachment is subject to further proceedings before the competent authority. The ED said, “Further investigation is under progress.”