ED Attaches ₹11.07 Crore Assets In Geodesic Ltd Money Laundering Case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 11.07 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a money laundering case linked to M/s Geodesic Limited and others. The attached properties, spread across Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh, include residential flats, commercial spaces, agricultural land, and bank fixed deposits.

The ED initiated its probe based on an FIR registered by the MIDC Police Station, Mumbai, against Geodesic Ltd.directors Prashant Mulekar, Kiran Kulkarni, and Pankaj Kumar Srivastava along with tax consultant Dinesh Jajodia. The accused are alleged to have defrauded Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) holders of $125 million.

The anti-money laundering agency's investigation revealed Geodesic Ltd. had raised FCCBs (Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds) worth 125 million USD from foreign investors through Citibank, London, as a trustee in 2008 for the purpose of overseas acquisitions and investments in a Joint Venture or Wholly Owned Subsidiary of M/s Geodesic Limited. However, these FCCB funds were misappropriated and misused for investment and lending activities in other overseas companies and were also transferred to the Indian accounts of M/s Geodesic Ltd. with fraudulent intent to siphon off the foreign funds.

Further scrutiny exposed that M/s Geodesic Ltd. diverted FCCB holders' money by engaging in fictitious sales and purchases of software through major shell companies. It was further revealed that a substantial amount of funds was transferred from M/s Geodesic Ltd. to shell companies managed and controlled by Dinesh Jajodia and others, and subsequently to other entities under the guise of business transactions.

Upon further iprobe, these transactions were found to be far from legitimate trade practices and were instead aimed at financial manipulation. The proceeds retained by such entities were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, to prevent their alienation, transfer, or sale.

So far, four individuals—Prashant Mulekar, Pankaj Srivastava, Kiran Kulkarni, and Dinesh Jajodia—have been arrested in connection with the case. Prior to this, the ED had issued five Provisional Attachment Orders, seizing immovable assets worth Rs 57.14 crore linked to Geodesic Ltd and others.