The Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached 33 flats worth Rs 462 crore of Pyramid Developers as part of its ongoing investigation in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged violation of a slum rehabilitation scheme in Mumbai’s Bandra area.
The agency claimed that the accused used fake documents to avail extra Floor Space Index under the scheme, PTI reported. The Enforcement Directorate had filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in March 2017 and had also conducted searches at properties belonging to Pyramid Developers and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique.
The agency is investigating if Siddique, who was the chairman of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority from 2000 to 2004, had used his position and power to help the firm get the deal. It is also investigating if Pyramid Developers was a front floated by Siddique. Siddique, a Congress leader, had denied the allegations in the past.
“The FIR reveals that the suspect persons have defrauded the state [government] by preparing false ration cards, photo passes, shop and establishment licences and submitted the same to the SRA [slum rehabilitation authority] with an intention to get approval from the SRA for redevelopment scheme of Jamat-E-Jamhooria CHS Ltd in Bandra [West],” the agency said in a statement.
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