The ED has attached assets worth about Rs 66 lakh of alleged cyber criminals based in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district, the central probe agency said on Thursday.
It said the assets, provisionally attached under the Prevention of cash Laundering Act (PMLA), include three immovable residential properties situated at Mirga village within the district, four vehicles also as bank deposits of accused Pradeep Kumar Mandal, Pintu Mandal, Ankush Kumar Mandal, Santosh Mandal and Ganesh Mandal.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) slapped criminal charges under the PMLA against the accused after taking cognisance of a Jharkhand police FIR and chargesheet that charged them with illegal withdrawal and transfer of cash from ATMs and bank accounts of gullible people within the guise of being bank officials.
The ED said its investigation found that the accused “in connivance with other persons acquired funds in their bank accounts and family members’ bank accounts by cheating bank customers, another individuals and invested an equivalent within the construction of homes and buy of vehicles”.
The agency had filed a chargesheet within the case before a special PMLA court in Ranchi in May, 2019 and “charges against all the accused persons are framed and therefore the trial is underway”.