Enforcement Directorate books minister nephew for money laundering

CHANDIGARH: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday seized documents of alleged benami property deals, estimated to be worth Rs 300 crore, from the homes of Chandigarh lawyer Mukesh Mittal and his aides. Mukesh is the estranged nephew of Punjab BJP minister Madan Mohan Mittal.
Sources in the ED said they also have details of shell companies which had modest drivers and clerks as directors.The agency detected documents of alleged illegal transactions from these companies based in Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab during a nine-hour exhaustive raid at four locations including Mukesh’s Sector 18 residence in Chandigarh.
ED booked Mukesh under the Section 50 of Prevention For Money Laundering Act (PMLA), that deals with undisclosed sources of income.
Madan Mittal told TOI, “Their (Mukesh’s) family and I have not spoken to each other since 2006.”
A high voltage drama was witnessed outside Mukesh’s house on Tuesday afternoon as he stormed out of his house in front of ED sleuths, alleging that they were not accepting his affidavit.
Mukesh told reporters, “This is a random investigation based on a property dispute case of my client G S Sahwney. ED officials are forcefully taking away documents pertaining to him and my other clients. I am absolutely clean. They are not investigating the men against whom we are fighting the case.”
Chandigarh cops accompanying ED sleuths whisked him inside.
Sources said they were scrutinizing the balance sheets and annual returns of the companies’ in which Mittal and his family members were directors along with his clerks.
“The entire proceeds valuing more than Rs 100 crore from these companies was being pumped into one hotel in Barog in Himachal Pradesh,” said one ED official.
The hotel is run by Sharvila Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd, a Chandigarh-based firm which has Mukesh, his wife Alka and son Akshay as directors.
ED sources also claimed that the family members had procured unsecured loans worth Rs 2.53 crore and passed on loans and advances worth Rs 2.52 crore. Mukesh denied this. He was also served an I-T notice for irregularity in the returns filed by a company Sarvila Builders and Developers, registered at his home address. There have been complaints of forgery and land grabbing against him, which too he has denied.
A practicing advocate in the district court Chandigarh, Mukesh was president of district bar association Chandigarh in 2009. He has had his share of controversies in the past for his alleged role in land grab cases.
In November 2012, the Union Territory administration had recommended CBI investigate a criminal complaint against Mukesh for allegedly committing forgery, cheating and criminal breach of trust.
The complaint was filed by Nirmal Singh of Sector 33, who alleged that the advocate was his counsel but forged a cash receipt of around Rs 9 crore and embezzled Rs 25 lakh. Later the CBI had expressed its inability to probe the case on the grounds of being a dispute between private parties and referred the matter to Chandigarh police. At present the matter is pending with the Chandigarh police.
His name also cropped up in controversy in August 2012, when his clerk, a resident of Dadu Majra colony Chandigarh, was arrested in a property grabbing case. Mittal’s clerk was found to be the director of several companies registered in Chandigarh. Mittal and his wife had also been directors of the clerk’s company.