The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets belonging to actors Dino Morea and Sanjay Khan, Aqeel Abdulkhalil Bachooali aka DJ Aqeel, and son-in-law of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui, in the case against the Sandesara group and others.
They include immovable properties, vehicles and bank balances. “These attached assets belong to Sanjay Khan (₹3 crore), Dino Morea (₹1.40 crore), Aqeel Abdulkhalil Bachooali (₹1.98 crore) and Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui (₹2.41 crore),” said the agency, adding that the total attachment in the case now stood at ₹14,521.80 crore.
The agency, in a statement on Friday, alleged that the Sandesaras, who are the promoters of the Sterling Biotech group, had diverted the funds in question to Mr. Khan, Mr. Morea, Mr. Bachooali and Mr. Siddiqui.
The ED is conducting the money laundering probe based on a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, alleging that several public sector banks were cheated. The total proceeds of the alleged crime has been calculated to be over ₹16,000 crore.
The ED has so far filed four chargesheets in the case and arrested four persons. Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara and Hitesh Patel have been declared fugitives by a special court. They have fled the country and are currently suspected to be in Nigeria, where they own oil fields, and Albania. It is alleged that they also have substantial business interests in Albania.
