By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Nov 28:
The competent authority under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) of the Union finance ministry froze bank accounts of 13 drug peddlers, including a few henchmen of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim early this week in Mumbai.
Those whose bank accounts were frozen are : Abdul Razak Kadar Shaikh, Irfan Badar Shaikh, Suleman Johar Shaikh, Jitendra Sharad Parmar alias Asif, Naresh Madan Mhaskar, Sardar Uttam Patil, Zuber Momin, Mohmed Salim Abdul Hamid Memon, Kaiz Siddiqui, Avesh Khan, Mohmed Aziz Paryani, Mohmed Wasim Abdul Latif Shaikh and Mustafa Charania alias Guddu.
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, during a raid on the hide out in Vikhroli in North East Mumbai, had seized 146kg,143 grams mephedrone (MD) worth Rs. 58.55 crore. Besides, a cash worth Rs One crore,55 lakh was seized and three vehicles were also seized. During the interrogation of those who arrested initially, the entire cartel came to the fore.
Some of the properties already attached by investigating authorities include: a plot admeasuring 3,195 square meters, located in Sangli MIDC in Western Maharashtra owned by Sardar Uttam Patil and a commercial plot and a industrial gullah in Raiagd in Konkan owned by Kaiz Siddiqui.
In another development, SAFEMA forfeited three properties owned by the family of late gangster Iqbal Mirchi at Worli in south Mumbai, earlier this month, based on the evidence collected by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating a case against Mirchi’s family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The three properties were: Rabia Mansion, Mariam Lodge and Sea View. The value of these properties is about Rs 500 crore. Mirchi, had allegedly connived with Sir Mohamed Yusuf Trust and misrepresented about the ownership of these buildings before the Competent Authority (SAFEMA/NDPS Act) in 2005.
The probe by ED into Mirchi’s Indian assets revealed that after the properties were released from attachment, Mirchi sold them to Sunblink Real Estate Private Limited, a company linked Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoters of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), for Rs 225 crore in 2010. The payments to Mirchi were routed through shell companies and hawala. Both Kapil and Dheeraj are currently under arrest. The ED had had also secured open ended non-bailable warrants against Mirchi’s sons Asif Memon and Junaid Memon as well as wife Hajra Memon. So far, the ED has arrested five people in this case and attached assets worth Rs 798 crore, including the three Worli buildings.
