New Delhi: Assets worth over Rs 36 crore of a former Gujarat cadre IAS officer, Sanjay Gupta, and his family have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the ED said on Thursday.
Gupta, from the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), quit service in 2002 and later started his own hospitality business named Neesa Group of Companies, it said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against him pertains to alleged criminal misconduct and funds misappropriation of Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Company Ltd (MEGA).
The officer was MEGA Chairman between April, 2011 to August, 2013.
The probe found that "Gupta during his tenure as Chairman MEGA arbitrarily appointed his close associates in various official positions who were previously working with him in Neesa Group," the ED said in a statement.
"Gupta also floated a number of paper or dummy companies with these employees as Directors and got opened bank accounts of these companies during 2012-13," the ED charged.
The federal probe agency has issued a provisional order for attachment of assets of Gupta, his wife Neelu Gupta along with assets held in the name of Neesa Group Companies like Neesa Leisure Ltd, Neesa Technologies, Neesa Agritech and Foods Ltd, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached properties include flats at Dhananjay Towers in Satellite area of Ahmedabad, few other immovable assets in the same area, Casela Towers in Jodhpur, Cambay Hotel at Thaltej (Ahmedabad) and plots and factories at Visalpur, Changodar and Daskroi in Ahmedabad.
The ED has charged that fictitious companies involved in this case raised fabricated and bogus bills to MEGA without any supply of goods or services.
"Gupta did not adopt any procedure for awarding of work contract in MEGA through wide circulation of advertisement through media or newspaper. The dummy companies were awarded contract on the pretext for supply of goods and services to MEGA and bogus bills were raised," it alleged.
"These bogus bills and invoices were certified by the illegally recruited MEGA officials and payments were finally approved by Gupta as the administrative and financial powers were vested in him," it said.
ED took over the case after taking cognisance of state police CID FIRs and charge sheet filed against Gupta and others. He was also arrested by the state CID in 2015.
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