New Delhi, Aug 29:
The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has issued a Purple Notice at the request of India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a trade-based money laundering scheme involving shell entities, an official said on Friday.
The laundering was executed through under-invoiced imports and forged documents, the ED revealed. A Purple Notice, one of eight types of Interpol notices, alerts member countries to the modus operandi, objects, devices, and concealment methods used by criminals. Officials said the move underscores India’s proactive role in global efforts to combat financial crime.
In a related action, the ED’s Panaji zone provisionally attached immovable assets worth ₹2.86 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, linked to a bank fraud case against Canara Bank involving Crown Minerals Trading Corporation (CMTC) and its partners.
The attached properties include 22 plots in Dharbandora belonging to partner Riyaz Shaikh, as well as two plots and a residential villa in South Goa’s Cuncolim and Fatorda belonging to managing partner Aditya Angle. These assets, officials said, were purchased using illicit funds representing the Proceeds of Crime (POC).
The ED probe followed an FIR and chargesheet filed by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau in Goa, which accused CMTC and its partners of conspiring to defraud Canara Bank. The accused allegedly obtained a ₹7 crore Open Cash Credit (OCC) facility on the false pretext of trading in raw iron ore.
Investigations found that properties mortgaged as collateral were already pledged with other banks. Once the loan was sanctioned, the funds were allegedly siphoned off into personal accounts through fake transactions, later diverted to acquire assets for personal gain, the ED added.
