Enforcement Directorate (ED) has searched 16 premises across Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi of five companies and brokerage firms, and their promoters following charges that they had sold shares worth ₹160 crore in off-market to launder money.
Premises searched were of Securekloud Technologies Ltd , Pro Fin Capital Services Ltd , Quantum Global Securities Ltd (QGSL), Unity Global Financial Services Pvt Ltd , Desert River Capital Pvt Ltd and its promoters under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the ED said. The searches conducted led to seizure of ₹1.04 crore in cash, gold and diamond jewellery, identification of immovable properties of more than ₹30 crore and other movable assets in various DMAT accounts. Other incriminating documents and digital evidences too have been taken into custody by the ED. .
Delivery instruction slips
The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR 39/2019 registered by Crime Control Bureau (CCB)-I on February 2, 2019, on a complaint filed by Suresh Venkatachari, the promoter and CEO of Securekloud Technologies Limited (STL), against QGSL and its directors and Rohit Arora.
Securekloud Technologies Limited (STL), earlier known as 8k Miles Software Services Ltd , is a software and IT services company having presence in India and USA. The complaint was lodged against some sharebrokers and financial service provider companies which sold the shares pledged by the promoter of STL in order to borrow loan against it company shares, the agency said in a statement. The complaint also stated that the share brokers who have provided loan forged the signatures on delivery instruction slips and sold the shares in off-market.
Misleading complaint
“PMLA investigation revealed that the directors and beneficial owners of these share brokerage and financial services companies have transferred the shares worth ₹160 crore in off-market and subsequently sold the same to generate huge proceeds of crime,” the ED alleged. The investigation also allegedly exposed that “the complaint lodged by the Promoter of STL was misleading as he and his CFO are involved in larger conspiracy of cheating general public by way of inflating books of company, diverted funds of company to the unrelated business activities of companies having stakes of CFO and CEO of STL.”
Even the suspicious activity, the agency stressed, for share price manipulation was done by some unscrupulous share traders with tacit support and connivance of senior management of STL. The ED is investigating this issue as well as besides the larger conspiracy of promoters of listed company and the share brokering companies that have provided loan and allegedly sold away the shares of company to launder money.