ED issues notice for attachment of Hasan Ali's properties

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The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday issued a showcause notice for attachment of properties valued at Rs50 crore of Pune stud farm owner and alleged tax defaulter Hasan Ali Khan and his Kolkata-based associate Kashinath Tapuriah in a money laundering case.

The ED issued the order under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after it got the approval of the adjudicating authority of the law, which is based in the national capital, and it includes immovable properties in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune of the duo, official sources said.

"An attachment order and showcause notice has been issued to us under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the Enforcement Directorate. We will appeal against it," Ali's lawyer R. K. Gaur said.

The attachment order notice, according to sources, also includes Ali's high-end imported cars, including Mercedes, Porche and others, a flat in Pune's posh Koregaon Park area and a residential building in Mumbai and Tapuriah's property on Prithviraj Road in Delhi.

"This is just a provisional order which can be challenged before the adjudicating authority of ED in Delhi before 30 days", an ED official said.

Ali, accused of money laundering, has a Rs62,000 crore tax liability and penalty proceeding pending against him. The total pending tax demand against him and his associates has been pegged at Rs89,000 crore by the Income Tax department.

Under the PMLA, the ED has the powers to attach properties of a person as ‘proceeds of crime’ to obtain the genuine tax amount or the amount that has been laundered illegally. Ali and Tapuriah are now in ED custody in Mumbai after they were arrested by the agency for alleged contraventions of money laundering law in India and abroad. The I-T department has raised a tax of Rs50,329 crore against Khan, Rs49 crore against his wife Rheema Hasan Ali Khan, Rs591 crore against his associate Tapuriah, Rs20,540 crore against Tapuriah's wife Chandrika and a Rs336 crore against a business firm related to Khan -- R M Investment and Trading Company Private Limited.

The ED will now begin proceedings for attachment of these properties. Both Ali and Tapuriah are expected to appeal to a higher authority against the order, as sources said that Tapuriah's property in the national capital had been sold out few years back and it cannot be attached as per law.

Accused of money laundering and multi-crore tax evasion, Khan is also facing criminal cases under the Passport Act for allegedly obtaining six passports from different parts of India.

Meanwhile, the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court is likely to give an order on the bail application of Khan on Friday. His wife Rema is likely to appear before the special court on July 4 in connection with the summons issued to her.

The immovable property of Hasan Ali attached in Pune includes three floors of the five storeyed "Tulip" building in Koregaon Park area where Ali lived.

The court order also attached his movable property, covering six cars including three Mercedes and 32 horses kept at stables of Royal Western Indian Turf Club (RWITC) in Mumbai and Pune, sources said.