The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken strict action against life protection groups and their directors. The ED office in Guwahati has seized assets worth Rs 5.54 crore on charges of misappropriation of public funds. This measure has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The seized assets include Rs 1.42 crore in 48 bank accounts and 22 land or house deposits, the ED said. These lands and houses are worth around Rs 4.11 crore and are located in different parts of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
The ED has initiated the investigation based on multiple complaints and chargesheets filed by CBI, CID of Assam Police and other agencies. The group has allegedly opened around 422 branches in northeastern states and is running a massive fraud scheme. People are forced to invest money with the lure of extra income even though the company has no valid permission to raise money.
The company raised Rs 403.63 crore from more than 688,000 people. To gain people’s trust and attract new people, they returned only Rs 132.72 crore. The remaining amount of about Rs.270.91 crore was used by them for their own benefit and had no legitimate business basis.
The money received from the new investors was used to pay back the old ones. When the situation worsened, the owners closed the company and fled. The ED also said that money was secretly transferred from company accounts to personal accounts of owners and their family members. With that money they bought land and house in their own name. The incident is currently under investigation.