Jaipur: The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Jaipur Zonal Office has provisionally attached 37 immovable properties and one movable property valued at Rs 15.97 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the Apexa Group fraud case, an official statement said on Friday. The attachment order was issued on Thursday. According to the ED, the attached immovable properties comprise agricultural and residential land belonging to Murli Manohar Namdev, Durga Shankar Merotha, Anil Kumar, Giriraj Nayak, Shobha Rani, and others. These properties are located in the districts of Bundi, Baran, and Kota in Rajasthan.
The movable property attached includes a bank account linked to the Apexa Group, containing funds to the extent of Rs 1.50 crore. The ED initiated its probe based on multiple FIRs registered by the Rajasthan Police against Namdev and others, alleging that the Apexa Group had collected Rs 194.76 crore from a large number of investors through fraudulent investment schemes. The investigation revealed that Namdev, in collusion with his associates, deliberately devised and promoted fraudulent schemes under the banner of the Apexa Group with criminal and mala fide intent.
"These schemes promised exceptionally high returns to lure unsuspecting and gullible individuals. There was no credible basis or legitimate financial backing to support the promised returns, nor was there any viable mechanism to generate such profits within a short period," the ED said. The agency further stated that between 2012 and 2020, the accused continued to attract funds by paying nominal returns to investors, either by circulating money collected from new investors or by persuading existing investors to reinvest their returns, thereby creating a false impression of profitable operations. However, the ED noted that the schemes were inherently unsustainable and bound to collapse.
The situation worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, when a large number of investors sought repayment of their principal amounts along with the assured returns. "At this stage, the Apexa Group, led by Murli Manohar Namdev and his associates, failed to honour the repayment demands, leading to the collapse of the schemes and substantial losses to investors," the agency said. The ED said the funds collected were primarily diverted towards the purchase of immovable properties and the establishment of new business ventures to serve the personal financial interests of the accused and their associates, rather than for generating legitimate returns. Further investigation into the case is underway.
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