The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached the movable and immovable assets of one Suresh Kumar Banthia and Jitesh Kumar Banthia to the tune of Rs. 9.12 Crore in the form of bank account balances, 02 Residential Flats at “South City Galaxy Apartment of Bhowanipore – Kolkata,” and land located in “different places of South 24-Parganas and Howrah District” under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The Income Tax Department filed a Prosecution Complaint under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act in the Learned Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta against Suresh Kumar Banthia and Jitesh Kumar Banthia, respectively, for undisclosed credit in the Bank Account of an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands, of which they were beneficial owners. Because Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Tax Imposition Act, 2015 is a scheduled crime under Part C of the schedule to the PMLA, 2002, the ED also launched an inquiry under the PMLA, 2002.
Earlier, under Section 17 of the PMLA, assets worth Rs.1,51,49,805/- and cash worth Rs.10,20,000/- were frozen. Because the proceeds of crime are kept in a bank account outside of India, the linked properties are similar in value. The total value of assets seized/frozen/attached as a result of this temporary attachment order is Rs. 10.74 crores. An investigation into the situation is now underway.
