The Enforcement Directorate may attach ₹1,000 crores worth of assets of now defunct National Spot Exchange Ltd's owners and promoters as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged fraud at the commodities exchange firm, Mint reported citing sources.
However, ED will steer clear of confiscating any assets that are also being sought by the Mumbai police, added the report. ED and Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing plan to pursue the case together.
In an effort to expedite matters on the NSEL case, the government has said it will set up a special court to hear all NSEL related cases on a priority basis, and has urged ED and SEBI to fast-track their probes.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has also been directed to pursue the court case expeditiously for effecting the merger of now-defunct NSEL with its parent Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) at the earliest.
So far, the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing has attached 831 properties worth ₹7,063 crore under MPID Act, of which, attachment of 711 properties worth ₹6,115 crore have been notified in the Gazette of the Government of Maharashtra.
According to an official statement, the Government of Maharashtra was requested to expedite these measures so money could be realised from the sale of attached assets and consequently be returned to investors of NSEL who have suffered losses in the payment crisis.
The nearly ₹5,600-crore payment and settlement crisis at NSEL came to light late 2013 and since then the matter has come under the scanner of multiple agencies. ED has arrested FTIL promoter Jignesh Shah and has been remanded to judicial custody till August 1, 2016. In 2013, NSEL was ordered to halt trading after it was found that fake contracts were behind at least 13,000 borrowings, triggering a payments crisis at the exchange. The borrowed money was allegedly siphoned off overseas or into real estate deals.
With PTI inputs