Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Lucknow Zonal Office has provisionally attached immovable assets valued at Rs 995.75 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in relation to the fraudulent disinvestment of defunct sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, reported The Times of India.
The attached properties consist of three defunct sugar mills, along with open land, buildings, and machinery, registered under the names of M/s Mallow Infratech Pvt Ltd, M/s Dynamic Sugars Pvt Ltd, and M/s Honeywell Sugars Pvt Ltd—companies controlled by Mohd Iqbal, a former MLC. These sugar mills are located in Baitalpur, Bhatni, and Shahganj, Uttar Pradesh.
The ED launched an investigation following an FIR filed by the CBI under various sections of the IPC, 1860, and the Companies Act, 1956. The FIR accuses Mohd Iqbal and his associates of fraudulently acquiring several sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh through a manipulated disinvestment process.
The ED’s investigation found that the sale of the mills had many problems. They discovered that the mills were sold for much less than they were worth, and that the process for selling them was not fair.
