3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Mar 5, 2026 11:12 PM ISTLate fugitive gangster Iqbal Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi. (Source: Express Archives)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought to confiscate properties worth over Rs 700 crore, including 15 properties in Dubai, believed to be proceeds of crime linked with late fugitive gangster Iqbal Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi and his kin.In 2021, a special court in Mumbai had declared Mirchi’s wife and two sons as fugitive economic offenders (FEO), under an Act by the same name. The Act permits seizing and confiscating of properties linked with such offenders. In a recent plea, the ED has said that properties believed to be proceeds of crime, including those outside India, should be permitted to be confiscated.“The proceeds of crime in this case…have been siphoned off to foreign shores by the accused and hence are not available for attachment and confiscation… this court is entitled to order for confiscation of properties attached under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, representing the equivalent value or proceeds of crime parked abroad by accused,” the ED application filed in January states, adding that the FEOs have refused to come to India to join the probe and face trial. A hearing on the plea is yet to take place.The list of properties includes three properties in Worli, Rabia Mansion, Marium Lodge and Sea View, totalling to nearly 5,000 square metre in size and valued at Rs 497 crore and 15 properties in Dubai, including Hotel Midwest Apartment, with forty percent each ownership of his sons, Junaid and Asif, and 20 per cent of his wife, Hajra and 14 other real estate units in Corporate Bay in Dubai and properties in Dec Tower in Dubai Marina, a total value of Rs 203.27 crore. These were provisionally attached in 2019.The three properties in Mumbai were owned by Sir Mohammed Yusuf Trust. In 1991, the Trust officially handed over possession of the properties to Mirchi. In 1999, when Mirchi was declared a proclaimed offender as he was wanted in multiple cases in the city and his properties were being attached, the Trust claimed that they still owned these three properties and sought their release from the attachment process in 2005. The ED claims that this was done through misleading the court by claiming that the Trust still had ownership.Subsequently, through Mirchi’s associate Humayun Merchant, the properties were agreed to be sold to a company linked with Dheeraj Wadhawan, the promoter of DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance corporation Limited). The accused in the case are currently out on bail with the trial yet to begin.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Enforcement Directoratemumbai news