Money Laundering Case: ED Attaches Several Assets Of NCP Leader Nawab Malik

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Nawab Malik, mentioned the petition saying that it is a case of Nawab Malik 22 years ago, where the ED is taking action.

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate has attached 8 properties of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik on Wednesday under the anti-money laundering law. 

The federal probe agency said in a statement that it has issued a provisional order attaching properties belonging to "Mohammed Nawab Mohammed Islam Malik alias Nawab Malik, his family members, Solidus Investments Pvt. Ltd. and Malik Infrastructure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)."

The properties incorporate the Goawala compound and a business unit in Mumbai's suburban Kurla (West), a 147.79-section of land agrarian land situated in Osmanabad locale of Maharashtra, three flats in Kurla (West) and two private flats in Bandra (West).

In a connected turn of events, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to consider listing for hearing 62-year-old Malik's appeal looking for immediate release from prison in this illegal tax avoidance case.

The ED arrested Malik in Mumbai in February.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Nawab Malik, mentioned the petition saying that it is a case of Nawab Malik 22 years ago, where the ED is taking action. The Act came in 2005 and the transaction dates back to 2000. The case of transactions that happened 22 years ago is now being taken forward.

Significantly, on the basis of an FIR registered against global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, the ED had arrested Malik on February 23, assuming his involvement in terror funding. According to the ED, Nawab Malik had entered into a land deal with the late Haseena Parkar, sister of Dawood Ibrahim, through this land deal to raise funds for terror funding.

"The FIR (of the NIA) stated that Dawood Ibrahim, after he left India, started controlling his criminal activities in India through his close associates such as Haseena Parkar (Dawood's sister) and others."

In one such case, the ED said, a prime property of Mrs Munira Plumber was "usurped" by Nawab Malik through Solidus Investments Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by the family members of Nawab Malik and controlled by Nawab Malik, with the active connivance of the members of D-gang (Dawood Ibrahim gang) including Haseena Parkar.

"For usurping this property, Haseena Parkar and Nawab Malik connived together and executed several legal documents to put a fa ade of genuinity for this criminal act," the ED alleged.

"These persons illegally transferred the land belonging to Munira Plumber, her mother Mariyam Goawala by getting it registered on the strength of fake/forged documents in the name of Solidus Investments Private Limited," it said.

The ED alleged that Parkar and Malik grabbed a property in Kurla from Munira a plumber. In 2003, Malik, through his family, purchased a company called Solidus Investments Pvt Ltd, a tenant on the property concerned.

The ED claims that he paid Parkar through Solidus in 2003 and September 2005 to acquire land ownership and since Parkar was allegedly part of Dawood's gang, the money paid to him became the proceeds of the crime.

After the arrest of Nawab Malik, the special PMLA court sent him to judicial custody for 14 days, considering the prima facie allegations to be true. Nawab Malik filed a petition in the High Court raising questions on the basis of prima facie evidence in Section 3 of the PMLA Court.

(With PTI inputs)