PANAJI
Businessman and former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda has come under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner after the agency searched three of his premises in Gurugram in connection with an alleged Rs 248-crore real estate fraud.
Kanda, who also operates an offshore casino in Goa, is being investigated over the alleged diversion of funds collected from investors in four commercial projects. ED details reveal that investors were allegedly induced to put money into the projects on assurances of timely possession, assured returns, lease rentals and execution of sale deeds.
The four projects allegedly involved in collection of Rs 248.46 crore approx from 661 investors, who were, however, not handed possession of the properties. The promised sale deeds were also not executed, the ED said.
Acting on the financial trail and suspected diversion of homebuyers’ funds, the ED carried out searches under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at Kanda’s three premises, including his residence, farmhouse and office.
The agency said the diverted funds were subsequently transferred to various companies linked to Kanda.
Kanda, 60, was raided by the ED in August 2023 too as part of a separate money laundering investigation.
The businessman-politician is a former MLA of the Haryana Lokhit Party from Sirsa, who had served as the minister for home, industries and urban local bodies in the state.
He is also the president of the party that was floated by him.
In 2023, Kanda was acquitted by a Delhi court in the high-profile suicide case involving Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess of MDLR Airlines founded and run by him.
