ED Attaches 707 Acres Of Aamby Valley Land Worth ₹1,460 Crore Linked To Benami Entities

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) kolkata provisionally attached land measuring 707 acres in and around Aamby Valley City, Lonavala, in connection with its probe into a multi-crore money laundering case involving the Sahara Group. The attached property is estimated to be worth Rs 1,460 crore.

The land was acquired through benami entities using funds allegedly diverted from Sahara group companies. The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.the financial probe agency said on Tuesday.

The ED’s investigation was initiated based on three FIRs registered by police in Odisha, Bihar, and Rajasthan under IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) against Humara India Credit Co-operative Society Ltd (HICCSL) and others. In total, over 500 FIRs have been filed against Sahara Group entities and individuals, more than 300 of which involve offences scheduled under PMLA.

An official ED statement said the Sahara Group was allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme through various entities, including HICCSL, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd (SCCSL), Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SUMCS), and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (SMCSL), among others.

The group is accused of luring depositors with promises of high returns and commissions, diverting collected funds without regulatory oversight, and denying maturity payouts. The agency also alleged that the group coerced depositors into reinvesting their money, manipulated account books to show false repayments, and shuffled funds between schemes to conceal non-payments.

The ED stated that its investigation revealed part of the funds had been siphoned off to create benami assets and finance lavish personal expenses. Moreover, evidence was found that the Sahara Group had disposed of assets by accepting partial payments in undisclosed cash for land sales, thereby depriving depositors of their rightful dues.

During the probe, the agency recorded statements from several depositors, agents, and Sahara employees under Section 50 of the PMLA. Searches conducted under Section 17 of the Act resulted in the seizure of Rs 2.98 crore in unexplained cash.