NEW DELHI: In a major relief to NCP leader Praful Patel, the Appellate Tribunal for Safema, dealing with cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), by an order of June 3 quashed the attachment of multiple flats owned by him on the 12th to 15th floors of Ceejay House in Worli, Mumbai, worth over Rs 180 crore.
ED had attached at least seven flats in Ceejay House owned by Patel, his wife Varsha and their company Millennium Developers in 2022, which was later confirmed by the PMLA’s adjudicating authority.ED had alleged that the properties were acquired from the widow of late drug lord Iqbal Mirchi through illegal transactions.
Quashing this attachment order on Monday, the appellate tribunal said ED’s actions against the Patels were illegal since these properties were not involved in money laundering, or linked to Iqbal Mirchi. The tribunal further said that properties spanning 14,000 sq feet belonging to Hazra Memon and her two sons in Ceejay House were attached separately and a double attachment of another 14,000 sq feet belonging to the Patels was not required as it was not part of the proceeds of crime.
While attaching flats belonging to the Patels, ED had alleged that they had purchased the property on which Ceejay House was built from Hazra Memon and gave her ownership of 14,000 sq feet of properties in Ceejay House. The agency claimed that Hazra and her two sons Asif and Junaid were declared fugitive economic offenders for which all properties of the Patels in Ceejay House were attached.
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