Delhi HC grants bail to Preeti Chandra in money laundering case

New Delhi [India], June 14 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to former Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra's wife Preeti Chandra in a money laundering case.

The Bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh on Wednesday granted bail to Preeti Chandra.

However, at the request of the ED's counsel, Justice Singh said that the order may not be given effect till Friday as the ED has to challenge the same. The appeal will become infructuous, ED's counsel said.

The ED arrested the founder of Unitech Group Ramesh Chandra, Preeti Chandra (Sanjay Chandra's wife) and Rajesh Malik of Carnoustie Group last year as they collected funds from home buyers, for housing projects. However, according to the ED, the fund was not used for the purpose for which it was collected.

Preeti Chandra was denied bail by the trial court in November 2022 in view of the amount of the transaction and the seriousness of the allegations.

Advocate Adit Pujari who appeared for Preeti Chandra submitted that she has been in judicial custody for a long time. She is a fashion designer and has nothing to do with the proceeds of crime, as alleged.

According to the ED, Unitech Ltd, where the accused Ramesh Chandra is the Chairman, and the co-accused Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra are the Directors, collected funds from home buyers, for housing projects.

The amount runs into several thousands of crores. However, this amount was not used for the purpose for which it was collected.

The accused persons diverted this amount into several other accounts. In this manner, the home buyers were cheated and the accused were involved in money laundering, the agency said.

According to the ED, accused Preeti Chandra received proceeds of crime Rs 107.40 Crores in her company Prakausli Investments Pvt Ltd. She did not disclose the ultimate usage of the said proceeds of crime.

The trial court had denied bail to her and said, there were allegations against the accused about receiving unaccounted money in the accounts of Prakausli. The number of transactions between different entities in the present case is voluminous and complex. It is not desirable to discuss in detail the said transactions at the stage of consideration on bail.

During further interrogation of the applicant/accused while she is in judicial custody information was found about three more flats in Dubai. The same has been attached, noted the trial court.

The entire transaction involves a large number of home buyers (about 1000 families approximately). In view of the enormity of the transactions and the seriousness of the allegations, this court does not find any ground for grant of bail to the applicant/accused Preeti Chandra.

Accordingly, the present bail application of the applicant/accused Preeti Chandra is dismissed, the trial court said in the order.

Earlier, the trial court while taking cognizance of the chargesheet, stated that: considering the material available on record, I take cognizance for the commission of the offence punishable u/s 3/4 of PMLA.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth several crores belonging to two benami entities of erstwhile Unitech Group promoters Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra.

The attached properties include one multiplex in Gurugram, six commercial properties in Gurugram and Lucknow and 24 bank accounts and Fixed Deposit Receipts, the agency said.

"These assets are in the name of Enova Facility Management Services Pvt Ltd and FNM Property Services Pvt Ltd which are benami entities of Chandras," said the ED.

The ED initiated a money laundering investigation in 2021 on the basis of various FIRs filed by homebuyers against Unitech Group and its promoters by Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"Total Proceeds of Crime detected by the ED, in this case, is Rs 7,638.43 crore," ED had said.

The investigation by the ED revealed that these two benami entities were managed by Chandras through their close confidants and the assets attached were acquired and created from the proceeds of crime diverted from Unitech Group.