ED attaches assets worth Rs 1.71 cr in money laundering case

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday that it has attached movable and immovable assets in the form of land, building and vehicle worth of Rs 1.71 crore belonging to Praveen Kumar and Vijay Kumar in connection with case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against India Advertisement Services for cheating gullible investors.

The ED had initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of an FIR registered by the Himachal Pradesh police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The ED said that during investigation, it learnt that Parveen Kumar and Vijay Kumar started a pyramid scheme through India Advertisement Services in Una, Himachal Pradesh, in which the investors were promised a monthly salary on purchase of subscriptions on the App of India Advertisement Services.

"The investors were then duped as they were nudged to attract more and more customers to buy similar subscriptions. The accused were involved in cheating thousands of such innocent, small investors. The total proceeds of crime in this case is Rs 3 crore," the police said.

The ED said that investigation also revealed that Parveen Kumar and Vijay Kumar acquired multiple movable and immovable properties using the funds collected by cheating and defrauding the investors.

"Assets in the form of land, building and vehicle to the tune of Rs 1.71 crore have been attached as per the provisions of PMLA," the ED said.