ED attaches assets of Sanjay Khan, Dino Morea, DJ Aqeel and Ahmed Patel's son-in-law in Sandesara case

New Delhi, July 2, 2021

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it had provisionally attached assets worth Rs 8.79 crore, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case involving the Sandesaras of the Gujarat-based pharmaceuticals group, Sterling Biotech.

The attached assets belong to actors Sanjay Khan (Rs 3 crore) and Dino Morea (Rs 1.40 crore), Aqeel Abdulkhali Bachooali, known popularly as DJ Aqeel (Rs 1.98 crore) and Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui, the son-in-law of the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel (Rs 2.41 crore), a press release from the ED said.

Apart from eight immovable properties, the attached assets include three vehicles, several bank accounts, shares and mutual fund units, it said.

Four separate provisional attachment orders under section 5 of PMLA have been issued in this regard, the release said.

According to it, the ED had initiated investigation under PMLA in the case on the basis of the first information report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Delhi for cheating several public sector banks.

"Investigation by ED revealed that Sandesaras have diverted proceeds of crime of Rs 3 crore, Rs 1.4 crore, Rs 12.54 crore and Rs 3.51 crore to Sanjay Khan, Dino Morea, Aqeel Bachooali and Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui, respectively. Earlier, ED had attached movable/immovable properties to the tune of Rs 14,513 core vide 8 provisional attachment orders in relation to this case. With this attachment, the total attachment in this case reached to Rs 14,521.80 crore. Total proceeds of crime in this case is more than Rs 16,000 crore," the release said.

Till now, one prosecution complaint along with four supplementary complaints have been made by ED in the case.

The promoters of Sterling Biotech, Nitin Sandesara and Chetan Sandesara, Chetan's wife Dipti Sandesara and Hitesh Patel have fled the country and have been declared fugitives by a Special Court.

Further investigation is in process, the release added.

NNN