The Central agency initiated the investigation based on an FIR initially registered by the Kolkata police. (File Photo)The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday said it has provisionally attached shares worth Rs 127.33 crore “beneficially owned” by Karan Deep Singh, the son of former Trinamool Congress MP and businessman Kanwar Deep Singh, in a money laundering case. The agency said the shares were linked to two immovable properties: Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital in Panchkula in Haryana.ED has so far provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 238.42 crore through five separate provisional attachment orders in the case, and further investigation is going on. A press release issued by ED’s Delhi zonal office said the attachment forms part of an ongoing money laundering investigation involving Alchemist Group, its directors, promoters, and associated entities, in relation to “large-scale fraud and misappropriation of public funds”.ED arrested Kanwar Deep Singh in the case on January 12, 2021. It filed a prosecution complaint before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in New Delhi on March 2, 2021, and one supplementary prosecution complaint on July 19, 2024.The Central agency initiated the investigation based on an FIR initially registered by the Kolkata police, and subsequently by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Anti Corruption Bureau, Lucknow, under sections 120 B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Alchemist Township, Alchemist Infra Realty and promoter/ directors of the Alchemist Group, including Kanwar Deep Singh and others.“The case pertains to a large-scale criminal conspiracy to defraud investors by illegally raising funds through fraudulent Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), offering unusually high returns, and/ or making false promises of allotting plots, flats, and villas. Through these deceptive investment schemes, M/s. Alchemist Holdings Ltd. and M/s. Alchemist Township India Ltd. illegally collected approximately Rs. 1,848 crore from unsuspecting investors and subsequently misappropriated the funds for unauthorized purposes”, ED said in its press release.Revealing details about its ongoing investigations, it added, “ED investigation revealed that the misappropriated funds were systematically layered through complex financial transactions involving group entities of the Alchemist Group, with the intent to conceal the illicit origin of the funds. These tainted proceeds were ultimately used for the acquisition of shares and subsequent construction of Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital.”Detailing about the modus operandi involved, it mentioned that “the transactions were deliberately structured to project these assets as legitimate, thereby disguising the proceeds of crime”. The shares of Alchemist Hospital and Ojas Hospital are held to the extent of 40.94 per cent and 37.24 per cent, respectively, by Sorus Agritech, a company beneficially owned by Karan Deep Singh, the agency said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Enforcement Directorate