Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bhubaneswar Zonal Office has provisionally
attached assets having present value of Rs. 1428 Crore of M/s Goldenland Group of
Companies under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The
assets includes bank balances amounting to Rs. 15.06 Crore available in various accounts
and landed properties admeasuring 1000 acres approx. in various districts of Odisha and
Andhra Pradesh. The immovable assets attached also includes some constructed buildings
and structures. Present market value of immovable assets attached is to the tune of Rs. 1413
Crore.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the CBI, SPE, Kolkata under
various section of IPC, 1860 against M/s Goldenland Group of Companies and others.
ED investigation revealed that suspect persons, entities and companies associated
with M/s Golden Land Developers Limited and M/s GLP Developers Limited without having
any statutory authority and approval of the regulatory authorities such as RBI, SEBI, ROC,
etc., have illegally and fraudulently raised huge amounts of money from general public from
the state of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the garb of real estate development and floated
illegal financial businesses of lump sum deposits, Recurring Deposits, RD/Monthly
investment schemes (MIS), YLY plan, etc. in the guise of plot booking by alluring the innocent
depositors through the false promise of higher returns against the deposits made in the group
companies. Large scale diversion of cash to sister concerns and to the accounts of Directors
and associates has also been unearthed.
Earlier, ED had carried out search operations against promoters/Directors and owners
of these related group of companies at various locations in Odisha, Punjab, Chandigarh and
Delhi on 08.02.2024 resulting in cash and vehicle seizures.
Further investigation is under progress
Tag: odisha
Implications of OLR Act: Odisha High Court’s Land Registration Ruling
The Odisha High Court on Friday resolved a group of 63 petitions. These petitions were filed after the registering authority refused to register deeds of sale for the petitioners’ homestead lands in the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation area, citing non-compliance with section 22 of the Odisha Land Reforms (OLR) Act, 1960.
Section 22 of the OLR Act requires permission from a revenue officer for the transfer of land. The petitions contested the registering authority’s decisions, arguing that homestead lands in urban areas are exempt from the provisions of section 22 of the Act.
Justice B P Routray, presiding as a single judge, determined that the mere inclusion of the land in an urban area or within the SMC area does not exclude the applicability of the OLR Act, particularly section 22. The court directed the competent revenue authority to conduct a fact-finding inquiry in each case regarding the land’s usability for purposes other than agriculture.
Justice Routray observed, “The lands in question, apart from being recorded as homestead in the record of rights (RoRs), did not demonstrate that they are solely for residential purposes and not capable of being used as agricultural lands. None of the cases revealed any inquiry report by the revenue authority to confirm that the lands are no longer capable of being used for agricultural purposes.”
SAIL initiates urgent procurement process aimed at doubling ventilators
The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has initiated an urgent procurement process aimed at doubling ventilators to at least 100 for treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients at its super specialty hospital (SSH) in Rourkela. Meanwhile, around 6,164 new COVID-19 cases, 2009 recoveries and seven deaths were reported in Odisha in the last 24 hours. Amid rising cases, a weekend shutdown was declared for Saturday and Sunday in all urban areas of the state w.e.f 24th April.