Jaipur: The zonal officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday provisionally attached an immovable property in Gurugaram worth approximately Rs 13.48 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a large-scale fraud on the Indian Railways allegedly committed by M/s Vinayak Logistics India Pvt Ltd, M/s Vinayak Logistics, and its proprietor-director, Pravesh Kabra. With this latest attachment, the total value of properties seized in the case rose to Rs 16.15 crore, which the ED said represented the entire proceeds of crime identified during the investigation.
Officials Friday said the attachment ensured that 100% of the illicit gains were secured, leaving no scope for concealment, enjoyment, or further laundering by the accused.The ED initiated its probe on the basis of three FIRs registered by the CBI’s Special Police Establishment, Jaipur, in the Nathdwara, Mandalgarh, and Bharatpur cases, followed by filing charge sheets. “Investigators uncovered a well-planned criminal conspiracy in which the accused entities allegedly misdeclared high-freight commodities such as marble powder, waste marble powder, and dolomite as low-freight items like alum powder and putty to illegally reduce railway freight charges,” said an ED officer.According to the ED, during 2021–22, the accused fraudulently transported over 120 rakes of goods by manipulating railway booking records, falsifying forwarding notes, tampering with e-forwarding notes, and using incorrect HSN codes.Later, scientific analysis conducted by the Geological Survey of India confirmed that the consignments declared as low-freight commodities were actually marble and dolomite powder. “The deliberate misdeclaration resulted in wrongful evasion of railway freight charges and GST, generating proceeds of crime amounting to Rs16.15 crore and causing a corresponding loss to the Indian Railways and the public exchequer,” the officer added.Earlier, the ED attached properties worth Rs 2.67 crore in Gurugram on Jan 6.Further investigation revealed that the remaining proceeds were siphoned off and consumed through business operations and personal expenditure. To secure these funds, the ED now attached a residential property in Gurugram as property of equivalent value.
