ED Attaches Rs. 10.86 Crore in Land Fraud and Cryptocurrency Scheme

Background:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chandigarh Zonal Office, has issued a Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in a

complex land fraud and investment scheme involving Sandeep Yadav, Manoj Yadav, Mohan Sharma, and others. The agency has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets valued at Rs. 10.86 crore, comprising flats and land worth Rs. 6.06 crore and cryptocurrencies held in digital wallets in the form of Ramifi Tokens valued at Rs. 4.79 crore.

Fraudulent Scheme and Proceeds of Crime:

ED’s action follows an investigation initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Haryana Police. The probe revealed that the accused allegedly cheated approximately 20 membersof the public by fraudulently sellingreal estate plotsand attracting investors with promises of unusually high returns through cryptocurrency investments. The investigation identifies proceeds of crime (POC) amounting to roughly Rs. 26.54 crore, which were purportedly invested in movable and immovable assets as well as digital tokens.

According to the ED, the cheated funds were siphoned through third-party bank accounts and largely withdrawn in cash. Detailed financial inquiry showed habitual offending by the group, with multiple FIRs registered against them for similar cheating activities. Earlier search operations at 10 locations in this case led to the recovery of cryptocurrencies worth Rs. 17 crore and freezing of Rs. 46 lakhs in bank accounts linked to the accused, under provisions of the PMLA.