NEW DELHI: A Special PMLA court has sent Rose Valley Group official Arun Mukherjee to seven years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh in connection with a money laundering probe.
An ED official here said that the Special PMLA court on Friday evening sentenced Mukherjee to seven years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh and default rigorous imprisonment for another 6 months.
The financial probe agency had registered a case against Rose Valley Real Estates Construction Ltd. its Chairman Gautam Kundu along with other persons related to the company in 2014.
The official said that Mukherjee, who was Debenture Trustee and was responsible for the acts and affairs of the company at the relevant time had pleaded guilty to money laundering before the Special Court under PMLA in Kolkata.
The official said that it was alleged in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that Rose Valley Real Estate Construction Limited and its Associate Companies repeatedly floated Secured Non-Convertible Debentures in 2001-2002, 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and in 2007-2008 and issued to more than 49 persons in each financial year and illegally raised a total amount of Rs 12.82 crore.
“During the course of investigation conducted under PMLA it is revealed that the accused company under the direction and control of accused persons had accumulated investments from 2,585 persons, a total of around Rs 12 crores and acquired control over various securities,” it said.
The money so acquired was further laundered by investing it in various movable properties, the official said.
The ED had attached 14 fixed deposits having a total value of Rs 12 crores. In this case two accused persons namely Kundu and Amit Banerjee were arrested in 2015 and a charge sheet was filed in 2015.
The charges were framed in this case in February, 2012 and the trial of the other accused is ongoing, he added.
Source: Press Trust of India