ED likely to shift Mumbai zonal office in seized property of drug dealer Iqbal Mirchi
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to move its Mumbai zonal office to the property that was seized from Iqbal Mirchi.
Sources have claimed that the ED officials have been visiting the Ceejay Building to make necessary arrangements so that their zonal office could be shifted. As of now, ED is running its office from the Ballard Estate situated in the Kaiser-e-Hind Building.
The two floors (third and fourth floor) of Worli-based Ceejay House, a prime building in Mumbai, belongs to the late drug dealer Iqbal Mirchi. Many politicians are running their offices from Ceejay House.
Millennium Developer Private Ltd, the company of former Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, had constructed this building. The top floor of the building is the residence of Patel.
The ED had lodged a case of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act against Iqbal Mirchi, his family members, and others which includes DHFL and its promoters. The probe agency had detected a few suspicious transactions related to real estate dealings following which the case was lodged.
The ED had recently sought permission from the Mumbai court to confiscate Iqbal Mirchi’s properties worth Rs.100 crore. The two floors of Ceejay House are part of the total properties that had to be confiscated.
In February 2021, the concerned PMLA court had declared Mirchi’s wife Hajra and his two sons, Asif and Junaid, as fugitive economic offenders. The order was passed by the court to seize their property.
Patel’s company, Millennium Developer Private Ltd, bought the rights of Mirchi’s Discotheque and Fishermen Wharf Pub in 2004. A deal was struck between the family members of Mirchi and the company in 2004. Following this deal, the third and fourth floors of the Ceejay Buildings were given to Mirchi’s family.
There are 15 properties of Mirchi seized by the ED. As of now, ED has not decided to auction his real estate.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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