The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday grilled former aviation minister Praful Patel for 12 hours in connection with a land deal case linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Iqbal Mirchi.
Praful Patel was questioned by the ED in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the alleged illegal assets of Iqbal Mirchi.The ED has now found evidence regarding a monetary transaction between Praful Patel's firm Millennium Developer Private Ltd and Iqbal Mirchi's son Asif Memon. The transaction made is said to be a multi-crore transaction where Asif transferred money to the account of Millennium Developers Pvt Ltd.
The agency suspects the transaction to be part of the payment made for a property bought by Mirchi in name of his wife Hazra, sons Asif and Junaid in the Ceejay House high-rise located in the prime Worli area of Mumbai. The property, worth crores, is a 14,000 square feet duplex in Ceejay House which was a high-rise constructed by Patel's firm Millennium Developers Limited.
Patel arrived at the ED office at around 10:30 am and left only by 10:30 pm in the evening. The line of questioning by ED was in connection with the details regarding the purchase and sale of the property in Ceejay house owned by Memons.
Praful Patel denies money ties with Mirchi
The property in Ceejay House for which agreement was signed between Patel and Hazra Memon, Patel had during a press conference claimed that there had been no monetary transaction between his or his company and members of Mirchi family.
Patel had claimed that the property given to members of the Mirchi family was in lieu of their possessed tenancy rights which they had bought from a tenant MK Mohammad. Mohammad ran two restaurants in the land parcel where Ceejay House was constructed and as per settlement with the court receiver had availed the possession in his name. The property was bought by Hazra Memon from Mohammad in 1990 and then again a suit was filed against Memons by a Patel family member. The suit was also settled and Memons were given Rs 10,000 as rent till the time the building was constructed.
In 2007, the property was registered in the names of Hazra, Asif and Junaid and the signatory for Millennium Developers Ltd was Praful Patel. ED during their probe found several such properties owned by Iqbal Mirchi and his family members in India, UAE and UK. The Ceejay House property was not in the dossier prepared against Mirchi.
What is the probe against Iqbal Mirchi?
Iqbal Mirchi had more than a dozen cases in Mumbai and also a red corner notice issued against him. India had sought his extradition in the 90s but failed and attempts to identify and seize properties belonging to him were initiated by ED under FEMA regulations in 2015.
Last Friday, ED arrested Haroun Yusuf and Ranjeet Singh Bindra in connection with facilitating and helping cover for Iqbal Mirchi's three properties in Worli which were then sold to two construction companies. Bindra, who is brother in law of a Mumbai-based Congress leader, had helped in the sale deal and held meetings with Mirchi and his aide Humayun Merchant.
Yusuf held several meetings with Mirchi in London and helped with his trust as a front for Mirchi's properties. According to the agency, more than Rs 2000 crores were borrowed from an NBFC and laundered overseas for terror financing. ED officials are presently interrogating Bindra in connection with the deal.
Meanwhile, ED officials hinted that Patel could be called for questioning again.