Gold smuggling case: ED attaches Rs 25.28 cr assets of Hyderabad jeweller, his family

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 25.28 crore of Hyderabad jeweller Sanjay Agarwal, his wife Radhika Agarwal and son Preet Kumar Agarwal in a Rs 100 crore gold smuggling case, the agency said on Wednesday.

The attached assets are in the form of residential villas and 54 kg gold.

ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of a case registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Kolkata under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 for smuggling of gold and diverting it in the domestic market.

It carried out search operations in Hyderabad on March 9 and July 19 this year and seized incriminating documents, which revealed the acquisition of properties by the accused persons in the name of their associates.

During the investigation by ED, it was revealed that the gold procured duty-free from nominated agencies like MMTC, State Trading Corporation etc and meant for export used to be diverted in the domestic market by Sanjay Agarwal with the active connivance of his relatives and other associates.

Earlier, ED had arrested Preet Kumar Agarwal in this case for his active role in the money laundering activities. A Special PMLA court in Kolkata has issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against other accused persons namely Sanjay Agarwal, Radhika Agarwal, Ajay Kumar Agarwal and Avinash Soni.

( With inputs from ANI )