Money laundering case: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 834 crore in a money laundering case involving former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other accused, including EMAAR and MGF Developments Ltd. The properties are located in 20 villages across Gurugram and Delhi.
The case alleges that EMAAR-MGF, in collusion with Hooda and Director DTCP Trilok Chand Gupta, acquired land at undervalued prices, resulting in significant losses to both the public and the government.
Attached properties located in 20 villages of Gurugram, Delhi
The federal agency has provisionally attached immovable properties totalling 401.65479 acres, with valuations of Rs 501.13 crore for M/s EMAAR India Ltd. and Rs 332.69 crore for M/s MGF Developments Ltd. These properties are land located in 20 villages within Gurugram District, Haryana, and Delhi. The investigation focuses on allegations of money laundering related to a plotted colony in Sectors 65 and 66 of Gurgaon involving both companies.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The FIR names Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Trilok Chand Gupta, the then Director of DTCP, and M/s EMAAR MGF Land Limited, along with 14 other colonizer companies.
The case centers on allegations of cheating landowners, the public, and the state of Haryana/HUDA. The accused are alleged to have issued notifications under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, followed by Section 6 of the Act, to acquire land at prices significantly lower than the prevailing market rates before the notifications. They are accused of fraudulently obtaining Letters of Intent (LOIs) or licenses for the acquired land, causing financial loss to the landowners and the state while gaining wrongful benefits for themselves.
What ED investigation reveals?
The ED investigation uncovered that M/S EMAAR MGF Land Limited had executed six ante-dated development agreements with farmers for 27.306 acres of land. These agreements were falsely dated as April 2009 but were actually signed in March 2010. The investigation further revealed that these so-called collaboration agreements were fabricated to appear as if they were made before the notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, to circumvent complications in obtaining licenses from the DTCP.
As a result, M/s EMAAR MGF Land Limited secured licenses for 25.887 acres of land, with a current value of Rs 1,229.17 crore. The ED's investigation indicates that the acquisition of land for HUDA was not the genuine intent. Instead, the process was a scheme to pressure farmers into selling their land to builders under the pretense of various agreements, leveraging the threat of acquisition proceedings.
