ED freezes `46.67 cr funds...
Can’t restrict right to open...
The bench said, “There could indeed be a necessity to impose certain restrictions so as to prevent mushrooming growth of pharmacy colleges. Such restrictions may be in the larger general public interest… However, if that has to be done, it has to be done strictly in accordance with law…”
After putting a moratorium in July, 2019, the PCI modified it on September 9 that year and exempted government institutions, institutions from north-eastern states, and states and UTs where the number of institutions offering BPharm and DPharm are together less than 50.
While a part of the amount was paid back to the investors, the remaining was diverted to various individual and company accounts through payment gateways and banks. From here, the amount was partly siphoned off for digital/ virtual currencies. Thereafter, the fraudsters would stop the payments and the website became inaccessible. The ED had initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of an FIR registered on October 8, 2021, by the cybercrime police station in Kohima, Nagaland.
As per the ED, the HPZ token was operated by M/s Lillion Technocab Private Ltd and M/s Shigoo Technology Private Limited, which also found to be linked to various Chinese-controlled companies. It has also been revealed that various other companies received funds from the public on the pretext of operating various apps/ websites for gaming/ loans, among other purposes. The ED suspected the involvement of M/s Jilian Consultants India Pvt Ltd, Gurugram, in various firms involved in these frauds.
One such entity, M/s Mad-Elephant Network Technology Private Limited, in agreement with X10 Financial Services Limited, was operating various loan apps (Yo-Yo Cash, Tufan Rupees, Coco Cash, etc.). Similarly, Su Hui Technology Pvt Ltd, in agreement with M/s Nimisha Finance India Pvt Ltd, had operated loan apps, the agency claimed.
As per an ED statement, “During the search, incriminating documents were recovered and seized. Huge balances were found to be maintained in the virtual accounts of the involved entities with payment aggregators. Rs33.36 crore was found with Easebuzz Pvt Ltd, Pune; Rs8.21 crore with Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd, Bangalore; Rs 1.28 crore with Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore; and Rs 1.11 crore with Paytm Payments Services Ltd, New Delhi.”
Responding to the ED action, Paytm tweeted, “As mentioned in our exchange filing, the ED instructed us to freeze a certain amount from MIDs (merchant IDs) of specific entities and none of these funds belong to Paytm or our group companies.”
While Cashfree Payments said it’s fully cooperating with the ED operations, Easebuzz clarified that none of the parties mentioned in the ED’s statement belonged to their merchant base.
`27k cr investments...
A senior government official told the Free Press Journal, “The plot allotment was done through e-bidding and in the most transparent manner for mega projects, expansion of existing projects and projects through foreign direct investment.”
He said that the MIDC’s land allotment committee, under the ease of doing business, is supposed to issue a letter to the project proponent within seven days. “Early decision from the government will be better to avoid trust deficit among investors,” he opined, adding that further delays may impact the ongoing and upcoming investments in the state, impacting its pre-eminent position.
Another senior official explained that in the industrial areas, where over 80 per cent of plots are allotted, the vacant plots are allotted by e-bidding. In areas where less than 80 per cent of plots are allotted, the vacant plots are allotted by direct allotment through the land allotment committee (LAC), he informed. Regular advertisements are issued through leading national newspapers for the same.