ED files charge sheet against Mohali firm, directors in money laundering case

ED has filed a prosecution complaint before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Punjab against a Mohali-based company and its directors on charges of money laundering linked to a case of alleged possession of government seals and stamps.

New Delhi:The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against a Mohali-based company and its directors on charges of money laundering linked to a case of alleged possession of government seals and stamps.

The prosecution complaint (charge sheet) has been filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Punjab against the firm Seabird International Pvt Ltd and its directors Pirtpal Singh and Gurinder Singh.

The federal probe agency had attached assets worth Rs 6.93 crore of the two in the past, it said in a statement.

The ED filed a PMLA case against the accused after going through two Mohali Police FIRs registered in 2017 for alleged possession of counterfeit seals and stamps of government agencies and another for alleged possession of a German-made handgun replica.

It was found that the directors-- Pirtpal Singh and Gurinder Singh-- used to forge educational and financial documents of visa aspirants to meet the required standard set by overseas institutions and later same were used to be submitted with foreign embassies for grant of visas, the ED alleged.

"Investigation found that fixed deposits of different banks, educational documents, agriculture income certificates and identity proofs such as voter ID purported to have been issued by different revenue authorities of Punjab, that were submitted to foreign embassies for grant of visas to the students, were fake and forged," the agency claimed.

The accused, it alleged, used this modus operandi and generated proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 7,56,40,000 and acquired movable and immovable properties and were charged for money laundering.

"Investigation in this case is under progress," it said.

(PTI REPORT)