Sahara Group disposed of assets in 'secret' cash deals: ED

New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday alleged that a number of Sahara Group assets, which were acquired out of the deposits collected from the public, were being disposed of in a "clandestine" manner via cash transactions.

The federal probe agency filed a chargesheet in the matter before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata on September 6.

It named Anil V Abraham and Jitendra Prasad Verma, both arrested in the case by the ED and presently lodged in jail under judicial custody, as accused in the matter.

Abraham was an executive director of Sahara Group's core management team while Verma, a property broker, served as a long-time associate of the group, the agency said.

"It has been revealed that many properties of the Sahara Group, which were acquired out of the deposits collected from the public, were being disposed of in a clandestine manner involving huge cash transactions.

"During investigation, it has been established that Abraham and Verma played a significant role in the disposal of such properties in collusion with others," the ED alleged in a statement .

It said the duo was "actively involved" in facilitating, coordinating, and executing transactions relating to the alienation of assets of the Sahara Group.

The money laundering case stems from a clutch of 500 FIRs filed by police against Sahara Group entities, including a company named Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd (HICCSL).

It was alleged in the police complaints that "large-scale" cheating of depositors was orchestrated through "forced" redeposits and "denial" of maturity payments.

The ED claimed that Sahara Group was "operating a Ponzi scheme".

The funds collected were managed in an "unregulated" manner without depositor oversight, the maturity proceeds were not repaid but reinvested, and books were "manipulated" to camouflage such non-repayments, the agency said.

Various intra-group transactions reflect that huge liabilities were shifted from one concern to another without any commercial wisdom, the agency probe found.

"Finally, huge liabilities were reflected in four cooperative societies. Despite financial incapacity, the group continued to collect fresh deposits," the ED said.

Due to "continuous non-repayment" of matured amounts of depositors, the outstanding liability, which has a large interest component, escalated disproportionately as compared to the principal sum originally collected from the depositors over the years, it said.

"Substantial" deposits were siphoned off to create benami assets, extending loans and "misused" for personal use, thereby "depriving" the depositors of their legitimate dues, according to the ED.

The Supreme Court on September 12 ordered the disbursal of Rs 5,000 crore of over Rs 24,000 crore deposited by Sahara Group with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to repay the dues of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.

The top court also extended the date from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2026, for disbursal of Rs 5,000 crore to the depositors allocated in 2023.

The bench said the order was in line with the March 29, 2023, order where a similar application of the Centre was allowed for allocation of Rs 5,000 crore to repay the dues of the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies.

The amount of Rs 5,000 crore was directed to be transferred from the Sebi-Sahara refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, which was asked to disburse it to the genuine depositors upon scrutiny.

The bench said the transfer of the amount should be done within a week under the supervision of former Supreme Court judge R Subhash Reddy and in the manner as outlined in the court's March 2023 order. PTI NES ARI