Nagpur: Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized unaccounted cash of ₹1.95 crore during searches at two locations linked to a city-based builder in connection with a money laundering case involving a senior citizen who was conned of ₹9.4 crore. The searches in Nagpur district were conducted last week.Apart from cash seizure, the agency recovered incriminating documents and digital devices, froze bank balances exceeding ₹40 lakh and identified several immovable properties suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of crime.According to ED sources, the builder allegedly entered into a development agreement with an elderly woman who had lost her husband, promising ₹1.75 crore and 14 residential flats in exchange for development rights over her land.However, the agency said the flats earmarked for the landowner were subsequently sold to third parties after cancellation of the declaration deed, allegedly without her knowledge or consent.The sale proceeds of ₹8.93 crore were allegedly misappropriated, while another ₹45 lakh promised to her remained unpaid, resulting in an alleged total financial loss of approximately ₹9.4 crore.In another case, the ED investigation uncovered alleged irregularities involving 22 flats in a high-rise, which had been mortgaged but allegedly sold to third parties without clearing outstanding liabilities, said a source privy to the probe.The outstanding dues reportedly touched ₹12.84 crore, following which proceedings under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act were initiated.The money laundering investigation originated from FIRs registered at Ajni and Rana Pratap Nagar police stations under cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.ED subsequently initiated its investigation to trace the alleged proceeds of crime and examine financial transactions linked to the case.The seizure of cash, freezing of bank balances and identification of suspected properties have widened the scope of the investigation. The agency is now examining the financial trail and the possible utilisation of proceeds of crime.
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