'Dabba trading': ED attaches over Rs 34-cr worth assets

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) Assets worth more than Rs 34 crore have been attached under the anti-money laundering law in a 'dabba trading' case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday.

The probe of the federal agency stems from an FIR filed by Indore police (Lasudia police station) in Madhya Pradesh.

Dabba trading refers to an illegal and unregulated form of trading in securities.

The ED said it has issued a provisional order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for the attachment of the properties belonging to a number of accused that includes Vishal Agnihotri, Tarun Shrivastava, Hitesh Agrawal, Dharmesh Rajnikant Trivedi, Srinivasan Ramasamy, Karan Solanki, Dhaval Devraj Jain and their family members.

These persons, according to an ED statement, have been operating multiple entities and platforms such as V Money/VM Trading (Standard Trades Limited), 11Starss, Lotusbook247, 8 Stock Heights, Goldmine, Vertex, Gamebetleague, iBull Capital Ltd, Playbook, TargetFX, World777 apart from some others.

These platforms were allegedly involved in illegal dabba trading and online betting operations, it said.

"Funds collected from investors and participants were routed through mule bank accounts, hawala channels, and cryptocurrency transactions," the ED said.

The agency had conducted searches in this case in December 2024 and in June and July this year in cities like Indore, Bhopal, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Statements recorded under the PMLA "established" the flow of funds and their utilisation in acquiring assets in the names of promoters, family members, and associated entities, the ED claimed.

It had frozen assets in this case earlier and with the latest attachment order worth Rs 34.26 crore, the total value of seizure/attachment stands at Rs 58.39 crore. PTI NES ZMN