THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
In a major development in the Goa illegal mining case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 130 movable and immovable assets worth Rs 1,023.85 crore in India and Singapore as part of its money laundering probe into alleged large-scale illegal iron ore mining by the Salgaocar Group and its associates, collectively referred to as the AVS Group.
The attachment, carried out by the ED's Panaji Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, follows an attachment order issued on June 19.
In the statement issued, ED said “the attached assets comprise 99 immovable properties in India valued at Rs 459.10 crore, 31 immovable properties in Singapore worth Rs 471.32 crore, and equity shares in Indian companies valued at Rs 93.42 crore”.
The assets are held in the names of the Estate of late Anil Vassudeva Salgaocar, represented by its administratrix Lakshmi Anil Salgaocar, and several group-linked entities, including Salgaocar Mining Industries Pvt Ltd, Shantilal Khushaldas and Brothers Pvt Ltd, S Kantilal and Co Pvt Ltd, Salitho Ores Pvt Ltd, Vertex Newton Projects Pvt Ltd and Subarnarekha Port Pvt Ltd.
The ED said its probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Goa Crime Branch CID for offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
The agency noted that the Supreme Court, in its judgments dated April 21, 2014 and February 7, 2018, had held that all mining operations carried out in Goa after November 22, 2007, until the grant of fresh leases, were illegal and without lawful authority.
“As per the investigation, the AVS Group operated ten mining leases in Goa between 2007 and 2012 and generated proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 2,492.95 crore through the illegal extraction, sale and export of iron ore,” the ED said.
“The illegally mined ore was exported at grossly undervalued prices to shell companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, which functioned merely as paper intermediaries before reselling the ore to buyers in China,” it added further.
The agency further claimed that the arrangement generated offshore trade profits of approximately Rs 2,744.89 crore, taking the total proceeds of crime to Rs 5,237.84 crore.
“These funds were subsequently layered through special purpose vehicles based in the British Virgin Islands and Singapore, used to acquire substantial assets abroad and partly routed back into India in the guise of share capital,” the agency said.
