Allowed

FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014 of Ms.Nidhi Uppal v/s The Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi

ATFP16 Sept 2019FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appellant challenged attachment of a property she claimed was gifted to her before the alleged fraud. The Tribunal found the property was purchased before the relevant custodian account was opened and allowed the appeal, releasing that specific property.

What did the court decide?

The attachment of the specific property (House no. M-4/9, DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon) is released by setting aside the impugned order pertaining to that property.

FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014 of Ms.Nidhi Uppal v/s The Deputy Director… — Money Laundering | ATFP (2019)

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APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT AT NEW DELHI

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Date of Decision: 16.09.2019

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MP-PMLA-2897/DLI/2016 (Misc.) FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014

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Ms.NidhiUppal … Appellant Versus The Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi … Respondent

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Advocates/Authorized Representatives who appeared

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For the appellant	:	ShriAnurag Jain, Advocate
		Ms.Ayushi Sharma, Advocate
For the respondent	:	ShriVikasGarg, Advocate
CORAM
JUSTICE MANMOHAN SINGH	:	CHAIRMAN
SHRI G.C. MISHRA	:	MEMBER

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JUDGEMENT

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MP-PMLA-2897/DLI/2016 (Misc.) & FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014

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By this order, we propose to decide the above-mentioned appeal filed under Section-26 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 against the Order dated 17.06.2014 in OC no. 257/2014.

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In the present appeal, we are only concerned with one immovable property i.e. House no. M-4/9, DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon . The appellant is claiming that the above-said property is owned by her by virtue of registered gift deed in her favour in view of the settlement arrived before the court as divorce alimony. In view of the above said circumstances, we have to decide whether any proceed of crime has been used by her and or her ex-husband, ShivrajPuri in acquiring the said property.

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It is admitted position that the appellant was not arrayed in the FIR nor any charges are frame. She is also not accused in the prosecution complaint.

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She, in the present appeal, is seeking relief to release only the property which is acquired by her by virtue of divorced decree passed in her favour. By the said decree by mutual consent, the said House No. M-4/9, DLF Phase-II Gurgaon has come to her. She is not involved in money laundering.

¶14

S/ShriShivrajPuri, RaghurajPuri, Rajender Chand, Sanjay Gupta, Gaurav Jain and Smt. DeekshaPuri had committed various offences punishable under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) pursuant to which FIR No. 341.2010, was registered at PS: DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon under Section 420/467/471 and 120B IPC,[which are scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002]. During the course of police investigations, S/ShriShivrajPuri, RaghurajPuri, Rajender Chand, Sanjay Gupta and Gaurav Jain were arrested by the officers of the Haryana Police, Gurgaon, but Smt. DeekshiPuri could not be arrested by Haryana Police and was declared a Proclaimed Offender. The accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy amongst themselves & others, and in furtherance thereto, they with dishonest intentions, floated a Bogus Scheme of High Assured Returns on investment by forging a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Circular, whereas no such Circular was actually issued by the SEBI. The above named accused/suspect persons, in furtherance to the above mentioned criminal conspiracy, also fraudulently made use of the Bank Accounts of ShriShivrajPuri‟s other relatives viz. ShriPremNath, Smt. ShielaPremNath and ShriPankajPremNath for undertaking their fraudulent financial activities including for laundering of funds viz proceeds of crime.

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The charge-sheet has been filed against oneShriShivrajPuri& others. The appellant has not been charge-sheeted in any court. The main charges levelled against the said accused persons are as under :-

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i) During September 2009, they had, in furtherance of the criminal conspiracy hatched, committed the illegal act of cheating various Investors by preparing forged documents ,

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viz a Circular purportedly issued by the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). They had also committed other illegal acts viz. Having opened Bank Accounts in the name of

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a. M/s. B.G. Financial Services (with Sanjay Gupta and his wife Archana Gupta as partners),

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b. M/s. G2S Management Consultants (with Sanjay Gupta, Gaurav Jain &Ganpat Singh as partners), and

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c. Using the Account of M/s. NMBPL (with Raghu Raj Puri, and DeekshaPuri are Directors) for illegally and fraudulently obtaining huge undue amounts as Commission, through the abovementioned acts of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery,

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(ii) During the year 2009-2010, they had cheated S/Sh. ArunAnand, Ashok Goyal, Yoesh Jindal, Bharat Goyal, AnupamBhasin C.B. Sharma, Ashok Mukharji, K.K. Bajaj, Ms.DheerajKumari, and others by dishonestly inducing them to deliver property/amount belonging to them to the above named accused persons.

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(iii) They had also forged certain documents purported to be valuable security, namely, letter of SEBI, receipts, electronic record, Bank statements etc for obtaining commission received without any authority,

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(iv) They had forged the above mentioned documents or electronic record, intending to use the same for the purpose of cheating,

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(v) They had fraudulently or dishonestly used as genuine the aforesaid forged documents or electronic records which they knew or had reason to believe, to be forged documents or electronic records,

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(vi) During the year 2009-2010 ShriShivrajPuri was entrusted with funds amounting to Rs. 405,51,41594.91 in his capacity as the then Relationship Manager, CITI Bank, DLF Phase II, Gurgaon,

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and he had committed breach of trust in respect of the said property/amount so entrusted to him, and

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(vii) During the year 2009-2010 ShivrajPuri, knowingly or having reason to believe that the offence of cheating and forgery have been committed, caused certain evidence connected with the said offence, namely, I-Phone, to disappear with the intention to save the offenders from legal punishment.

¶30

Police investigations further revealed that ShivrajPuri, in criminal conspiracy with Shri Sanjay Gupta, and the others solicited and obtained investments from various Citi Bank customers and also non-Citi Bank customers mainly Hero Corporate and others. The investment, thus mobilized was deposited in

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PremNath‟s Custodian Account No. 5011666247,

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Other family linked accounts,

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Accounts of 2 other firms namely M/s. B.G. Financial Services and M/s. G2S Management Consultants, etc., which were used for inflow/outflow of funds, and

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Besides, certain amounts have also been transferred to Brokerage Houses namely ReligareSecruities, Bonanza and India Infoline, etc. Investigation by the Police further revealed that the accused

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persons have also purchased properties in India.

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First charge-sheet u/s 173(2) of Cr.P.C. 1973 was submitted by Haryana Police, Gurgaon in the Court of CJM, Gurgaon in the afore-mentioned case registered under FIR No. 341/2010, PS: DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon. Charges were framed on 09.11.2011 against the accused persons viz. S/ShriShivrajPuri, Raghu RaiPuri, Sanjay Gupta, Gaurav Jain and Rajender Chand.

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Supplementary charge-sheet has also been filed on 03.06.2011 and

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24.12.2011.

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i) The investigations reveals inter-alia that the above named accused/suspects, viz.(i) ShriShivrajPuri – Relationship Manager, CITI Bank, and his close relations/associates – (ii) Shri Raghu Raj Puri (his father), (iii) Smt. DikshaPuri (his mother), (iv) ShriRajinder Chand (his close associate), (v) Shri Sanjay Gupta (AVP/CFO of Hero Corporates – a close associate), and (vi) ShriGaurav Jain ( an Executive of Hero Corporates – a close associate), entered into a criminal conspiracy amongst themselves & others, and in furtherance thereto, they with dishonest intentions, floated a Bogus Scheme of High Assured Returns on investment by forging a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Circular, whereas no such Circular was actually issued by the SEBI. The above named accused/suspect persons, in furtherance to the above mentioned criminal conspiracy, also fraudulently made use of the Bank Accounts of Shri Shiv Raj Puri‟s other relatives viz. ShriPremNath, Smt. Sheila PremNath and ShriPankajPremNath for undertaking their fraudulent financial activities including for laundering of funds, viz. proceeds of crime.

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ii) On 27.10.2009, a Bank Account viz. Custodian Account bearing No. 5011666247 was fraudulently opened with Citi Bank, Gurgaon in the joint names of ShriPremNath, Smt. ShielaPremNath& Smt. DeekshaPuri, all of whom are close relations of Shri Shiv Raj Puri, who was working as Relationship Manager, in Citi Bank Gurgaon.

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iii) Alarge number of investors were lured to deposit funds in the said Custodian Account and fraudulently prepared hand written deposit receipts and were issued to the investors on printed Citi Bank Stationery; with the intention to show that the said Scheme was floated by the Citi Bank.

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iv) The said Custodian Account was fraudulently used as a conduit to subsequently transfer funds to various Accounts of the accused/suspect persons or their relatives maintained with various Brokerage Companies, viz. Religare Securities Ltd, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, India Infoline, etc, and that the said investors were kept in dark that their funds were being invested in such a manner.

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v) As per prosecution case, the internal investigations got made by CITI Bank inter-alia disclosed that it was as early as March, 2009, that ShriShivrajPuri had been convincing CITI Gold customers, whose accounts were managed by him, to invest in the “exclusive” high return (rate of return of at least 1.5% per month), capita guaranteed financial products, supposedly authorized by CITI Bank and managed by Brokerage Houses. These representations by ShriShivrajPuri were bogus and no such product was actually offered by CITI Bank. Funds were drawn from customers‟ accounts either by way of Demand Drafts the Brokerage Houses or routed through the account of ShriPremNath. The payments were deposited into a group of Brokerage accounts held by ShriShivrajPuri, his father ShriRaghurajPuri and his mother Smt. DeekshaPuri, that were controlled by him/them. The said accounts were held with RELIGARE, BONANZA and INDIA INFOLINE. Shri Shiv Raj Puri invested in derivative products such as futures and options (F&O). Fake receipts, acknowledging these investments were issued on Citi Bank‟s stationery by ShriShivrajPuri to the said investors. In May, 2010, ShriShivrajPuri extended the illegitimate investment scheme to companies referred by Shri Sanjay Gupta, who worked in the Finance Department of M/s Hero Corporate and had recommended investments by M/s. Hero Corporate and M/s. Arrow

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Infrastructure in the said fraudulent schemes. Companies such as G2S Management Consultant and BG Financial Services were set up by Shri Sanjay Gupta to receive substantial undue financial gains in the form of kick backs and commissions etc. from ShriShivrajPuri, as well as to distribute a part of these kick backs, etc. to the CFOs of other companies who had invested in the aforementioned fraudulently operated Schemes.

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vi) In addition to fake receipts and statements issued on Citi Bank stationery, ShriShivrajPuri also showed his investors a fake CITI Bank, but was actually illegitimate. The corporate investors were told to deposit their investment funds into one particular “custodian account”, Citi Bank account No. 5011666247 maintained by ShriPremNath and other aforementioned relatives of ShriShivrajPuri. The said account was jointly maintained in the names of ShriPremNath, Smt. Sheila Nath and Smt. DeekshaPuri. ShriShivrajPuri obtained signature of Smt. DeekshaPuri on blank forms of transactions (MCCD) and used these forms to withdraw the money and channel the same into Brokerage Houses (for derivative trades), individuals (to pay for commission/kickbacks) and companies/individuals (to return the principal and interest on their investment).

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vii) The aforementioned fraud was got inquired into by Citi Bank as per Case No. 2010034666 dated 18.05.2011, with regard to the high inflows into the CITI Bank from other Banks on the basis of a supposedly guaranteed, high return investment product allegedly offered by CITI Bank as CITI Bank did not offer any such product. The internal review disclosed high inflows of Rs.405 Crores and outflows of Rs.401 Crores in an individual CITI Gold savings account no. 5011666247 held in the name of Sh. PremNath& Others and opened & operated by Shri Shiv Raj Puri.

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vii) The Investigation Audit of the aforementioned CITI Bank Scam was conducted by M/s. Lalit Jain & Co., a Chartered Accountant Firm which examined the transactions in Custodian account No. 5011666247 and other accounts of the family members/relatives of ShriShivrajPuri& also the account of Religare Securities Ltd & Bonanza Portfolio Ltd and analysed the inflow and outflow of funds in the said Custodian account and other accounts by making flow charts. The flow chart No. 2 showing the Commissions given to the parties from the Custodian account mentioning names of G2S Management Consultants, BG Financial Services, Archana Gupta (w/o Sanjay Gupta) etc. It also reflects the amounts received from parties including G2S Management Consultants & BG Financial Services.

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The Crime Branch of Haryana Police filed an application before the court seeking attachment of the following immovable properties alongwith the immovable properties comprising of bank accounts, insurance Policy and Mutual fund, u/s 102 Cr.P.C., purchased by ShriShivrajPuri, out of the illgotten funds earned by him:-

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Name of Property		Details	of payment made
	Name of Bank and accounts No.	Mode of payment Draft/Cheque No.	Amount	Made in favour of
House No. M-	SCB	060661	93.00.000/-	GurmeetKaur
4/9 DLF Phase II, Gurgaon,	531105342 540	dt.29.10.2009 344416 dt.25.09.2009	32,00,000/-
		Total Amount	1,25,00,000/-
GF-A Raisina	SCB	103290	36,18,320/-	Raisina Residency
Residency, Sec	531105342	dt.01.06.2010	55,76,538/-
59, Gurgaon 5513 Sqft	540	261486 dt.01.07.2010
		Total Amount	91,94,858/-
Commercial	SCB	261482	16,66,560/-	Urban Square Sec-
site, A-511 Urban Square Golf Course Road, Sec, 62 Gurgaon,1240	531105342 540	dt 31.07.2010 103296 dt01.06..2010	9,52,320/-	62 Gurgaon

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Sqft
		Total Amount	26,18,880/-
Commercial site, A-512	SCB 531105342	261481 dt 31.07.2010	16,39,680/- 9,36,960/-	Urban Square Sec- 62 Gurgaon
Urban Square Golf Course Road, Sec.62 Gurgaon, 1220 Sqft	540	103292 dt 01.06.2010
		Total Amount	25,76,640/-
C-14 Haridwar	SCB	DD 003037 dt	5,00,000/-	Arrow Infra Ltd
Green Vill-	531105342	3.9.10	5,00,000/-
Aneki,	540	335885	13,29,250/-
Hatampur 2850 Sqft		dt 0.9.10 335888 dt 20.9.10 391902 dt1.11.10	87,05,295/-
		Total Amount	1,10,34,545/-
EMAAR MGF	HDFC	DD 666115 dt	5,00,000/-	Emerald Plaza
Emerald Hills-	004419300	4.12.09	2,86,952/-
Emerald Plaza-	04342	808306	286952/-
2, Office Space-		dt 10.3.10	,, 73,903/-
027 Gurgaon, 637 Sqft		808332 dt 20.3.10 746836 dt 25.1.10
	SCB 531105325 40	261489 dt 17.10.10	18,13,533.48/-
		Total Amount	29,61,340.48/-
EMAAR MGF Emerald Hills-	HDFC 004419300	DD 66616 dt4.12.09	5,00,000/- 2,86,952/-	Emerald Plaza
Emerald Plaza-	04342	8083307	2,86,952/-
2, Office Space- 08 G	SCB	dt 10.3.10	73,903/-
2 urgaon, 637 Sqft	531105325 40	808333 dt 20.03.10 746837 dt 25.1.10 261488 dt10.10.10	18,13,533,48/-
		Total Amount	29,61,340.48/-

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On the basis of charge-sheet under Section 173(2) of Cr.P.C. 1973 submitted on 28.03.2011, 01.06.2011 and24.12.2011 by Haryana Police, Gurgaon in FIR No. 341/2010 dated 27.12.2010 of PS L DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon, in the Court of the Hon‟ble CJM, Gurgaon and documents provided by the Haryana Police, Gurgaon against the ex-husband of the appellant and other third party in the ECIR No. ECIR/04/DZ/2011 dated 22.03.2011 registered in Directorate of Enforcement, New Delhi.

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8.It is in the case of respondent – ED that during the course of instant investigations conducted so far under PMLA, statements of various persons, connected with this case, including the accused/suspect persons have been recorded in Directorate of Enforcement.

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The relevant evidence, collected, is mentioned as below:-

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(i) Statement of ShriShivrajPuri, was recorded u/s 50 of PMLA, 2002 on 16/08/2012, 14.09.2012 wherein he inter-alia stated, that there was an alert in May 2008, identified by Citi India FRMU through the banking early alerts tracing system, regarding unusual activity in his and his ex-wife Smt. NidhiUppal‟s staff accounts; on 27-10-2009, he as Relationship Manager of Citi Bank, DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon opened a Custodian Account No. 5011666247 in the names of ShriPremNath, Smt. Sheila PremNath, and SmtDeekshaPuri; that the funds were sent by RTGS mode by the investors into account No. 5011666247 and from this account funds were transferred to brokerage houses and accounts of Smt. DeekshaPuri and Sh. RaghurajPuri for further investments into the Stock market; that Shri Sanjay Gupta was also a conspirator and co-accused with him in the case; he managed funds from Hero Corporates; that the details of investments made are as per the C.A. report; that the investments of clients had started before opening of the Custodian Account; the investors were given returns from his personal accounts in Standard Chartered Bank and HDFC Account Nos-53110532540 and 00441930004342 respectively; that after opening of the Custodian Account No. 5011666247 in Citi Bank, various other accounts viz. A/c No. 5680510247 in the name of PankajPremNath in Citi Bank, No. 57555732477 in the name of ShriRaghurajPuri in City Bank, No. 131010100380549 in Axis Bank in the name of

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ShriRaghurajPuri, No. 00441930004342 in the name of Shiv Raj Puri, No. 53110532540 in SCB in the name of Shiv Raj Puri, No. 5201116246 in Citi Bank in the name of DeekshaPjuri, No. 5202814249 in Citi Bank in the name of DeekshaPuri and No. 0004083245 in Citi Bank in the name of Matni were used for inflow/outflow from these accounts under the scheme for attracting investment; he did not notify City Bank in writing about his active involvement in attracting investors and depositing of their funds in Brokerage Houses.

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The statement of ShriShivrajPuri was recorded on 27.09.2013 u/s 50 of PMLA wherein he inter-alia confirmed that all the movable/immovable properties mentioned in the application of Gurgaon Police for attachment of the properties mentioned therein including the properties mentioned above were purchased/acquired/ maintained by him; In the aforesaid application, the Gurgaon Police has revealed that all the movable/immovable properties mentioned therein, were acquired by ShriShivrajPuri out of the proceeds of crime.

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The statement of ShriPremNath was recorded u/s 50 of PMLA, 2002 on 16.10.2012 in which he inter-alia stated that ShriShivrajPuri is related to him, as his mother Smt. DeekshaPuri is the daughter of his (PremNath‟s) wife‟s brother; as regards his & wife‟s Account. No. 501166247 with CITI Bank, DLFII, Gurgaon, Shri Shiv Raj Puri suggested to them that in view of their old age they should nominate someone to take care of the affairs of this Account, and in this context, he suggested that his mother SmtDeekshaPuri could be a nominee in the said account, which was accepted by them, since they completely trusted him; at the suggestion of ShriShivrajPuri, the earlier Account was closed and a fresh Account was opened, in which context ShriShivrajPuri made them signed some blank Accounts Forms; however, subsequently when the cheque book of the new account was received, he was

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surprised to see that Smt. DeekshaPuri was named as a Joint Account Holder, instead of being made a nominee, as was agreed to by them; they both, therefore told ShriShivrajPuri that they did not want SmtDeekshaPuri to be a Joint Account Holder and ask him to immediately close the above Account.

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The details of the respondent‟s investigation as well as recording of the statement of the witnesses are mentioned at page nos. 9 to 29 of the impugned order.

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The Relevant Part of Investigation done by ED has been reproduced hereunder:-

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2.10. That, the aforementioned fraud was got inquired into by Citi Bank as per Case No. 2010034666 dated 18-05-2011, with regard to the high inflows into the CITI Bank from other Banks on the basis of a supposedly guaranteed, high return investment product allegedly offered by CITI Bank as CITI bank did not offer any such product. The internal review disclosed high inflows of Rs. 405 Crores and outflows of Rs 401 Crores in an individual CITI Gold savings account no 5011666247 held in the name of ShPremnath&Others and opened & operated by ShshivrajPuri.

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2.11 That, the Investigation Audit of the aforementioned CITI Bank Scam was conducted by M/s LalitJatin& Co., a Chartered Accountant Firm, which examined the transactions in Custodian account No 5011666247 and other accounts of the family members/relatives of Shri Shiv Raj Puri& also the account of Religare Securities Ltd & Bonanza Portfolio Ltd and analyzed the inflow and outflow of funds in the said Custodian account and others accounts by making flow charts. The flow chart No 2 showing the Commissions given to the parties from the Custodian account mentioning names of M/s G2S management Consultants, BG Financial Services, Archana Gupta (w/o Sanjay Gupta) etc. it also reflects the amounts received from parties including G2S Management Consultants & BG Financial Services.

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2.12 That, the Crime Branch of Haryana Police filed an application before the court seeking attachment of the following immovable properties along with the immovable properties comprising of bank accounts, Insurance Policies and Mutual funds, u/s 102 Cr.P.C., purchased by ShriShivrajPuri, out of the ill gotten funds earned by him.

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(a) Immovable properties including vehicle

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Name of	Details ofpa	yment made
property	Name of Bank Mode of	Amount	Made in favour

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	and accounts No.	payment Draft/Cheque N		of
House No. M-4/9 DLF Phase II, Gurgaon, (Shiv Raj Prri)	SCB531105325 425	o. 060661 dt 29.10.2009 344416 dt 25.09.2009	93,00,000/- 32,00,000/-	GurmeetKaur
GF-A Raisina Residency, Sec 59, Gurgaon 5513 Sqft (Shiv Raj Puri)	SCB531105325 40	Total Amount 103290 dt 1.06.2010 261486 dt 1.07.2010	1,25,00,000/- 36,18,320/- 55,76,538/-	RaiosinaReside cy, Gurgaon
		Total Amount	91,94,858/-
Commercial site, A-511 Urban Square Golf Course Road, Sec- 62 Gurgaon, 1240 Sqft (Shiv Raj	SCB 53110532540	264182 dt 31.07.2010 103296 dt 01.06.2010	16,66,560/- 9,52,320/-	Urban Square Sec- 62 Gurgaon
Puri)
Commercial site, A-512 Urban Square Golf Course Road, Sec- 62	SCB 53110532540	Total Amount 261481 dt 31.07.2010 103292 dt 01.06.2010	26,18,880/- 16,39,680/- 9,36,960/-	Urban Squarre Sec-62 Gurgaon
Gurgaon, 1220 Sqft (Shiv Raj
Puri)
C-4 Haridwar Green, Vill- Aneki, Hatampur 3850 Sqft	SCB 53110532540	Total Amount DD003037 dt 3.9.10 335885 dt 1.9.10 335888 dt20.9.10	25,76,640/- 5,00,000/- 5,00,000/- 13,29,250/-	Arrow infra Ltd
(Shiv Raj		391902	87,05,295/-
Puri)		dt 1.11.10
EMAAR MGF Emerald Hills-	HDFC 004419300043 42	Total Amount DD 666115 dt 4.12.09 808306 dt10.03.10	1,10,34,545/- 5,00,000/- 2,86,952/-	Emerald Plaza, Gurgaon
Emerald Plaza-2, Office Space-027 Gurggaon, 637 Sqft (Shiv Raj Puri)	SCB 53110532540	808332 dt20.3.10 746836 dt25.1.10 261489 dt 17.10.10	2,86,952/- 73,903/- 18,13,533.48/-
		Tl A	296134048
EMAAR MGF Emerald Hills-	HDFC 004419300043 42	ota mount DD 666116 dt 4.12.09 808307 dt10.03.10	,,./- 5,00,000/- 2,86,952/-	Emerald Plaza, Gurgaon
Emerald Plaza-2,		808333 dt20.3.10	2,86,952/-

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Office Space-027		746837 dt 25.1.10	73,903/-
Gurgaon, 637 Sqft (Shiv Raj Puri)	SCB 53110532540	261488 dt 17.10.10	18,13,533.48/-
		Total Amount	29,61,340.48/-
Plot of lant al No. C- 2/1056, PalamVihar, Gurgaon Smt. Archana Gupta, W/o Sanjay Gupta	ICICI 035801500543	DD 035220 dt 21.5.10 DD 035221 dt 24.5.10	45 lakh (+ Rs. 2.65 lakh towards registration charges
Maruti Zen Car-Reg No. HR-26-BD- 7902 M/s B G Financial Services	Axis Bank 910020019164 197	DD Dated 24.08.10	3,64,896/-
Plot of land at No. C- 1/627, PalamVihar, Gurgaon Smt. Kiran Jain W/o ShriGaurav Jain	Axis Bank 910020021019 847	DD 03210 dt 15.9.10 Cash	50 lakh (+ Rs. 2.65 lakh towards registration and stamp duty

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(b) Policies

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S. No.	Policy No., Customer Name of	Plan & pay period	Date of issue	Annual premium in Rs	Total payment (in Rs) made during 2009 &2010
1.	3490325- PankajPremnath	Freedom- 58, Whole life	28.10.09	14 lakh	28 lakh
2.	3592728- PankajPremnath	-do-	28.10.09	25 lakh	50 lakh
3.	420478- ReghurajPuri	Flexi save Plus-2003 10 yrs	6.5.05	96384/-	1,26,384/-
4.	420479- DeekshaPuri	-do-	6.5.05	98545/-	1,28,545/-
5.	4292272- PankajPremnath	Freesom-58 Whole life	28.7.10	11 lakh	31,50,000/-
6.	4387654- DeekshaPuri	-do-	31.10.10	35 lakh	99.75 lakh
7.	4439390- DeekshaPuri	Bachat Endowment- 20yrs	6.10.10	2,40,000/-	2,32,773/-
8.	4443548- Pankajpremnath	-d-	13.10.10	2,38,180/-	2,31,008/-
9.	3174320- PankajPremnath	Freesom-58, Whole life	28.07.09	6 lakh	12 lakh
10.	3377264- RaghurajPuri	-do-	29.09.2009	15 lakh	30 lakh
11.	3483785- Pankajpremnath	Dream Plan- 20 yrs	28.10.09	2,01,500/-	4,03,000/-
12.	3486170- PankajPremnath	-do-	28.09.09	2,21,760/-	4,43,520/-
13.	333071663- ShivrajPuri	JeevanMitra LIC	25.1.10	2,60,387/-	2,60,387/-
14.	333071662- ShivrajPuri	AmulyaJeevan LIC	25.01.11	50,400/-	50,400/-
15.	333071661- ShivrajPuri	JeevanAnand LIC	14.09.09	1,05,177/-	2,10,344/-
16.	333071663-	-do-	23.09.09	70,741/-	1,41,582/-

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¶81

ShivrajPuri

¶82

¶83

S.	Name of A/c Holder	A/c No.	Balance in Rs.
No.
1.	PremNath/ SheitaPremnath/Deekshapuri (Citbank)	5011666247	3,85,49,544.46
2.	DeekshaPuri/RaghurajPuri/ ShivrajPuri (SCB)	52205911540	3,23,204.64
3.	PremNath (Citibank)	5003111247	3,040.00
4.	PremNath (Citibank)	5005551244	5,11,326.31
5.	PankajPremnath (Citibank)	5680510247	2,75,613.20
6.	PankajPremnath (Citibank)	5680510248	29,312.35
7.	PankajPremNath (RBS)	1188658	5,74,024.26
8.	PankajPremNath/RamalPremnath (RBS)	1048314 (INR)	5,391.33
9.	RaghurajPrui (Citibank)	5755573247
10.	RaghurajPuri (HFL)	RRAJPURI	55,310
11.	RaghurajPuri (HDFC)	00441600003335	7,946.66
12.	RaghurajPuri (Axis)	131010100380546	72,805.60
13.	ShivrajPuri (HFL)	RAJSHIV	34,66,407
14.	ShivrajPuri (Citibank)	5700178244	21,63,194.47
15.	S P Puri (HUF) (HDFC)	987483245	1,543.49
16.	ShivrajPuri (HDFC)	00441930004342	1,27,172.10
17.	ShivrajPuri (SCB)	53110532540	15,22,702.97
18.	DeekshaPouri (Citibank)	5201116246	49,163.88
19.	DeekshaPuri (HFL)	DEEKPURI	6,000.00
20.	DeekshaPuri (Citibank)	5202814249	2,307.26
21.	Gaurav Jain (RSB)	985794(INR)	23,568.00
22.	Metcam Holding Pvt Ltd.	111154200	50,411.91
23.	Normans Martin Brokers Pvt Ltd.	0004083245	44,58,670.97
24.	Normans Mertin Brokers Pvt Ltd (Citibank)	0004132246	1,79,795.11
25.	Normans Martin Brok PG (Citibank)	0004223241	1,03,723.28
26.	Normans Martins Brokers PL- MUM A/c (Citibank)	0004133242	4,70,067.55
27.	Normans Martins Brokers PL A/c(Citibank)	0004131247	2,74,043.75
28.	Normans Martins Brokers PL- (SBI)	30639285238	15,85,490.03
29.	Normans Martins Brokers PL Advisory (Citibank)	D010000343839006	44,76,818.28
30.	Normans Martins (HDFC)	2912020000083	42,819.00
31.	BG Financial Services (Axis)	910020019164197	5,22,63,770.17

¶84

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¶85

	Sanjay Gupta/Archana Gupta
32.	G2S Managements Consults	910020021019874	1,23,55,150.10
	(Axis) Sanjay/Gaurav/ Gupta
33.	Archana Gupta (Axis)	910010013974898	25,57,062.00

¶86

(d) Details of Mutual Funds

¶87

CASA No.	DMF No.	Customer Name	Scheme Name	Date o urchase	f NAV Rate	Unit
500311247	3003111252	Premnath	ICICI VPEF- PMS	p 26.10.09	10	25,000
500311247	3003111252	Premnath	-do-	-do-	10	25,000
500311247	3003111252	Premnath	-do-	1.5.10	10	25,000
5005551244	3005551217	Premnath	FTAF-Pay Out	19.3.09	8.554	11631.985
5005551244	3005551217	Premnath	-do-	25.1.10	16.066	5601.892
5005551244	3005551217	Premnath	DSPBRX Tax Save Fund D/V	28.3.11	11.823	5846.305
5005551244	3005551217	Premnath	-do-	7.3.11	11.456	244.451
5005551244	3005551217	Premnath	FTAF-Pay Out	30.11.10	20.661	4840.037
5005552248	3005552213	Shelia Premnath	DSPBRX Tax Save Fund D/V	28.3.11	11.823	6829.482
5005552248	3005552213	Sheila Premnath	DSPBRX Tax Save Fund D/V	7.3.11	11.458	285.561
5011666247	3011666255	Premnath	UTI-OFDG	30.1109	13.84	491329.48
5011666247 5011666247	3011666255 3011666255	Premnath Premnath	UTI-OFDG UTI-OFDG	31.3.10 31310	12.76 2389	268025.078 4060027627
5011666247	3011666255	Premnath	UTI-OFDG	.. 30.9.10	. 15.07	. 829462.508
5011666247	3011666255	Premnath	UTI-OFDG	30.9.10	28.22	442948.264
111154244	3111154219	Metcamholdi ngPvt. Ltd	Franinda Dynamic Paralia Fund of Funds Growth	30.6.10	37.8102	66119.724
111154244	3111154219	Metcamholdi ngPvt Ltd	FEF Growth	30.6.10	33.208	57215.129
5011666247	3680510252	PankajPrem nath	FEF Div Pay Out	29.4.10	19.967	500826.363
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	CICI POPO CHIP	29.4.10	14.3	174825.175
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	Trandindia Dynamic Fund of Funds DIV	29.4.10	34.3169	101990.554
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	-do-	29.7.10	34.9593	171628.15
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	-do-	31.8.10	35.1591	241758.179
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	FQ OW Pay Out	31.8.10	21.91	456412.597
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	CICI PDPD PayOut	31.8.10	18.1489	550997.581
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	HOHIEQUITY FUND DIV	29.7.10	21.669	481488.763
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	CICI PDPD PayOut	29.7.10	19.1246	522886.753
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	CICI PDPD PayOut	29.9.10	12.411	1611473.693
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	FrandandiaD ynpocada Fund of Funds DIV	29.9.10	35.5867	1093293.465
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	CICI PDPD PaOut	29.10.10	19.5781	510774.794
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	y CICI PDPD CHIP	29.10.10	17.22	580720.093
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	MiralAssat India Opportunity Fund REG	30.11.10	15.712	1018329.939
5011666247	3680510252	-do-	Div REIN -do-	10.12.10	13.978	109248.503

¶88

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¶89

57001784244	3680510252	Shivraj	Puri	FTAF Growth	9.1.09	9.945	10055.304
57001784244	1700178217	-do-		-do-	5.1.10	18.463	5416.238
987483245	1700178217	SP (HUF)	Puri	CICI PDPD INVI	13.2.09	10.8435	11.356
9874832454	1700178217	-do-		Suitder Fund Div-Rein	6.3.09	10.936	27.451

¶90

That, since commission of offences by the aforesaid suspected persons, punishable u/s 420,467,471 and 120B IPC., are the Scheduled Offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), on 30.03.2012 an ECIR No. ECIR/04/DZ/2011 dated 22.03.2011 was registered in the Delhi Zonal Office of Directorate of enforcement, New Delhi, against the aforesaid Suspect/Accused persons for commission of offence under Section 3 of PML Act, 2002, punishable u/s 4 of PML Act, 2002 (as amended), and the case was taken up for further investigations under the said Act, accordingly.

¶91

DETAILS REGARDING INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED BY THE DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT, 2002 ARE MENTIONED BELOW:-

¶92

That, during the course of instant investigations conducted under PMLA, statements of various persons, connected with this case, including the witnesses, accused/suspect persons have been recorded in Directorate of Enforcement under Section 50 of PMLA, 2002 and also procure the relevant evidence form concerned authorities, under said section of PMLA.

¶93

RECORDING OF STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES

¶94

5.1 That, ShriBinuSoman, Assistant Vice President, CITI bank in his statements recorded on 19-05-11 and 27.09.2012 inter-alia stated that he has been working with CITI Bank since Dec, 2006 and based at CITI Bank, Gurgaon office; that Shri Shiv Raj Puri while working as Relationship Manager in CITI Bank, DLF PH-II, Gurgaon opened a Saving Bank Account No. 501166247 in the name of ShriPremnath, ShielaPremanth and DeekshaPuri who were his grandfather, grandmother and mother respectively; that Shri Shiv Raj Puri operated above account by using blank signed transaction forms obtained from ShriPremnath and also by forging signatures of DeekshaPuri in the transaction form; the signatures of DeekshaPuri were also forged by Shri Shiv Raj Puri in the account opening form; that he used to transfer the amount from account No. 50011666247 to Brokerage Houses like Religare, Bonanza, India Infoline etc., that Shri Shiv Raj Puri sourced two types of investors, one from the CITI Bank account holders and other direct investors; that Shri Shiv Raj Puri misused his official capacity as RM and misled the CITI bank customers to invest in the purported investment scheme Vanila Fixed income Interest Deposit (VFIID): the Bank doesn‟t have any investment scheme by name “VFIID”, that as per the disclosure made by Shri Shiv Raj

¶95

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¶96

Puri during Bank‟s internal instigation, Shri Sanjay Gupta, CFO; Hero Corporate, used to get investors in the “VFIID” scheme and Shri Gupta was paid certain percentage of the amount invested as commission; that Shri Shiv Raj Puri forged a SEBI circular which confirms PremNath Account No. 5011666247 as Custodian Account authorized to accept investment; that, that circular was made to convince the customers on the authenticity of the investment scheme; that he was also part of the CSIS investigation team.

¶97

5.2(i) That, ShriPremNath in his statement recorded on 1610.2012 inter-alia stated that Shri Shiv Raj Puri is related to him, as his mother SmtDeekshaPuri is the daughter of his (PremNath‟s) wife‟s brother, as regards his & his wife‟s Account No. 501166247 with CITI Bank, DLF-II, Gurgaon, Shri Shiv Raj Puri suggested to them that in view of their old age they should nominate someone to take care of the affairs of this Account, and in this context, he suggested that his mother SmtDeekshaPuri could be a nominee in the said account, which was accepted by them, since they completely trusted him; that at the suggestion of Shri Shiv Raj Puri, the earlier Account was closed and a fresh New Account was opened, in which context Shri Shiv Raj Puri made them signed some blank Accounts Forms; however, subsequently when the cheque book of the new account was received, he was surprised to see that SmtDeekshaPuri was named as a Joint Account Holder, instead of being made a nominee, as was agreed to by them; that they both, therefore, told Shri Shiv Raj Puri that they did not want SmtDeekshaPuri to be a Joint Account Holder and ask him to immediately close the above Account, and he (Shri Raj Puri) assured them that it would be so done; that he returned the cheque books to ShriShri Raj Puri, who around January, 2009 confirmed to them that the said account had been closed, which information they believed to be true; they resigned in 2010 before this instant case; that till August, 2008 he was reporting to ShriBhasin and on joining of Sanjay Gupta, he was reporting to him; that before investing in the scheme of ShivrajPuri in Citibank, Sanjay Gupta might have spoken to the Director of the company, as he had deputed Rajeev Girdhar for this, who visited the bank and confirmed about the scheme; that it seems that no action was taken against Rajeev Girdhar, since he is still working with the company; that as far as he knew, Hero Corporate Service, Mr AnupamBhasin, Satyam Auto components (Mr Yogesh Jindal), Arrow Infra Ltd, Shri Sunil kantMunjal, Mayar Infrastructure Ltd, hero Exports (Mr Bharat Goel), Spade Financial, Munjal Investment (Mr Bharat Goel), were the investors, who invested in the scheme of Shiv Raj Puri in Citibank, as they or their relatives were known to Sanjay Gupta, that M/s G2S management Consultants was a partnership firm between Sanjay Gupta, Ganpat Singh and he himself, having 1/3 shares, made at the instance of Sanjay Gupta to undertake the project financing consultancy; that this company had not owned any property and

¶98

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¶99

had not been audited; that there was no association between G2S Management and M/s B G Financials except that Sanjay Gupta was a partner in both these companies and funds of Rs. 50 lakh was given by B G Financials to G2S Management for the purchase of property in the name of his wife Kiran Jain; that bank account of this firm has been attached with the Gurgaon Pokice and no activities has been done after this case; that Rs. 4.45 crore was received as commission in the bank account of G2S Management Consultant.

¶100

6.7 That, SmtKiran Jain W/oShriGaurav Jain, in her statement recorded on 18.10.2012 inter-alia stated that plot No. C-1/627 PalamVihar was purchased for total consideration of 50 lakh and registered in her name on 20.09.2010 by executing sale deed in the office of Joint Sub-Registrar Gurgaon, excluding stamp duty fee and registration charges of Rs. 2.65 lakh, which was paid in cash; that the payment of Rs. 50 lakh was made through Cheque No. 003210 dated 15.09.2010 from the Account of M/s G2S Management Consultants payable to ShriPankajDhawan, from whom the aforesaid plot was purchased.

¶101

Documents procured from various authorities

¶102

8.2 Copy of Forged letter No. SEBI.IMD/MC No. 1/189241/2010 dated 01.01.2010

¶103

That, this letter was addressed to Citi bank N.A. Investment management Department and was marked as “PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL”. It was further advised in this letter that “as agreed upon, the custodian in your bank will be as follows till further notified/cancelled/amended/replaced”.

¶104

Produce code bank Custodian Account No. IILDO Citibak NA K KMalhotra 5367001242 IFID Citibank NA PremNath 5011666247 LNLOD Citibank NA RajendraKhosla5755561241

¶105

7.2 Copy of investigation conducted by the SEBI into the securities market aspects of the Citibank fraud sent to Shri S SDeswal, Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon vide letter dated 01.04.2011.

¶106

7.2.1 That, it was confirmed by the SEBI Vide their letter dated 22.12.2010 that Circular letter dated 01.01.2010 was not issued by the SEBI. Conclusion of the investigation conducted by the SEBI as envisaged in para 9.1., 9.2 and 9.3, as reproduced hereunder:-

¶107

“9.1 Shivraj solicited funds from the Hero group and associated companies by forging SEBI letter and then channelized the funds to the stock brokers and deployed the same in the securities

¶108

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¶109

market. As a relationship manager he also inducted Citibank clients to sign on blank transfer froms by offering them high guaranteed coupons and issued demand drafts to stock brokers it was basically running a portfolio management scheme where gullible investors were promised high returns and the money brought in by new investors was used to pay on the old investors.

¶110

9.2 The funds received were then transferred to stock brokers and deployed in the securities market. Here, Citibank and Shivraj managed the funds and securities of the clients and acted as a portfolio manager without being registered as such under SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 1993 with SEBI thereby violating the provisions of regulation 3 of SEBI (Portfolio Manager) Regulation, 1993 read with Section 12 (1) of SEBI Act, 1992.

¶111

9.3 Further, through such fraudulent activity these entities have engaged in the act of deceiving investors (read Citibank clients) and then channelized the funds in the securities market for personal (speculative) gain.”

¶112

7.2.2 That, as per para 7.7 of the said report, as reproduced hereunder, Citibank was also held equally responsible for such irregularities:-

¶113

“7.7 Citibank customers had entrusted their funds to Citibank and it was Citibank that has employed the relationship manager to manage their assets. Here Shivraj, as the relationship manager has acted on behalf of Citibank. Customers, entrusted their funds, not to the relationship manager, but to Citi bank in good faith with the knowledge that the same shall be utilized in the interest of customers. Shivraj utilizes the infrastructure available at his disposal to force portfolio statements, bank statements of his clients. Shivraj also utilized the Citibank stationery to forge networth certificates that were issued to stock brokers and fixed deposit receipt which were issued to Citi bank clients. It was the responsibility of Citibank to perform necessary due diligence with regard to the conduct of its relationship manager. In this context, it may be pertinent to note that SanjeevAggarwal in its FIR has informed that Citibank has developed a practice of getting blank demand drafts requisition forms signed from the customers on the pretext that people being busy would not be available for signing these papers. It was also observed that these demand draft were issued to the clients not-in person i.e. these clients were not present in the bank when the demand drafts were issued, neither there was a call made to these clients for verification. Such, operation which continued for more than 2 years could not have been possible without the implicit knowledge of more employees of Citi bank. Shivraj managed the funds and securities of the clients. In view of the above, Citibank acted as a portfolio manager without being registered as such under SEBI (Portfolio Managers),

¶114

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¶115

Regulation, 1993 with SEBI thereby violating the provisions of regulation 3 of said regulation r/w Section 12(1) of SEBI Act, 1992.”

¶116

7.2.3 That, from the report it has been established that Shri Shiv Raj Puri was a Relationship manager for 51 customer accounts and received their signatures on blank funds transfer forms through which he made demand drafts favoring stock brokers and invested in the securities market viz, Bonaza, India Infline, Religare, Norman Martins, Unicon, Hero Corporate, Shriram Infra, BG Financials, Galactic, etc, and also transferred funds to his family linked accounts. He also issued certificate as a Citibank employee on the official Citibank stationery and dispatched fabricated accounts statements to these investors, Thus, he received Rs, 150.35 crores from such investors.

¶117

7.3 Audit report dated 18.05.2011 of ShriVijaya Kumar, Investigative Services prepared under advice of Counsel – Attorney Work Product.

¶118

7.3.1 That, this report revealed that in the above Scheme of Citibank/Shivrajpuri, while inflow of amount in Citibank account was Rs. 4,05,51,41,595/-, the outflow of amount from the Citibank was Rs. 4,01,65,92,050/-.

¶119

7.3.2 That from the report, it has been revealed that funds of investors were operated as under:-

¶120

S.N.	Name of entitles	A/c No.	Amount Rs. In lakh
1.	Custodian Account – Citibank	5011666247	39583.66
2.	Religare Securities Ltd		13042.52
3.	BonanzaPortfolioLtd		17631.72
4.	Shiv Raj Puri (HDFC Bank)	41930004342	2459.27
5.	Shiv Raj Puri (Standard Chartered Bank)	53110532540	4148.80
6.	DeekshaPuri (HDFC Bank)	41930006474	3688.16
7.	DeekshaPuriCitibank	5201116246	1413.43
8.	DeekshaPuri&Rajender Chand (Citi Bank)	5202814249	40.00
9.	RaghurajPuri (HDFC BANK)	44160000335	5840.00

¶121

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¶122

10.	RaghurajPuri, (Citi Bank)	5755573247	839.89
11.	RaghurajPuri, S R P & D Puri (Standared Charted bank)	52205911540	744.5
12.	RaghurajPuri (Axis Bank)	131010100380546	390.00
13.	PankajPremNath (CitiBank)	5680510247	818.29
14.	Normans Martin (Citibank)	0004083245	604.78
15.	Sheila PremNath (Citibank)	5011667246	1320.38
16.	Sheila &PankajPremNath (Citibank)	5005552248	19.29
17.	PremNath& Sheila PremNath(Citibank)	5005551244	6.31

¶123

7.4 That, Reserve bank of India, vide their Letter No. DBS.F.MC No. 68/23.04.074/2010-11 dated 04.07.2011, after examining the Citibank‟s written and oral submission to the Multi Crore Fraud by ShriShivrajPuri, Global Wealth Manager of Gurgaon Branch of Citibank NA, concluded that the said Citibank had failed in adhering to the extant guidelines/instructions issued by the Reserve bank of India on KYC/AML. The failure in adhering to the KYC.AML guidelines led to the perpetration of the captioned fraud for which the Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of Rs. 25.00 lakh upon the Citi bank, which was paid vide Citibank Cheque 325985 dated 13.07.2011.

¶124

7.5 That, the Hon‟ble Judicial Magistrate, 1^st Class, Gurgaon Shri Ashok Mann, in his order dated 25.02.2014, in the criminal case under FIR No. 341 dated 27.12.2010, registered u/s 420, 467, 468, 471, 409, 120-B and 201 IPC, held the following accused guilty of the offences and awarded the sentences vide order dated 28.02.2014, as mentioned against each:-

¶125

(i) Shiv Raj Puri – Guilty under Section 409,420, and 120-B r/w 420 of IPC and awarded rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and six months and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for each offence‟

¶126

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¶127

(ii) Sanjay Gupta – Guilty under Section 420 and 120 read with 420, IPC and awarded rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and six months and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for each offence;

¶128

(iii) Gaurav Jain – Guilty under Section 120-B read with 420 IPC and awarded rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and six months and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- for each offence.

¶129

It was further ordered that the substantive sentences shall run concurrently. Fine paid. Red ink note be given on the file cover to the effect that same shall not be destroyed as ti shall be recalled back as and when the accused DeekshaPuri is arrestged.

¶130

8.1 That, by doing so, ShriShivrajPuri generated funds/assets by such fraudulent activities and thereby committed acts of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. The funds so generated by him were “proceeds of crime”. By investing the tainted funds (Proceeds of Crime) so acquired, in purchase of properties, Shri Shiv Raj Puri tried to project the same to be untainted properties. The payments made by him to the concerned persons/sellers/banks are part of proceed of crime and from the fraudulent acts committed by him as he was not having other source of income except his salary. Therefore, the competent Authority of Directorate of Enforcement, have reason to believe that ShriShivrajPuri, Shri Sanjay Gupta and ShriGaurav Jain have committed an offence of “money laundering” as defined under section 3 of the PMLA and invested the proceeds of crime so generated by them in various immovable/immovable properties including bank accounts, and thus such properties were liable for attachment under the PMLA. Accordingly, the following properties involved in money laundering have been attached vide Provisional Attachment Order as shown against each:-

¶131

(A) PROVISIONAL ATTACHMENT ORDER No. 01/2012 DATED 22.10.2012.

¶132

S.No .	Details/particulars	Owned/held in thename of	Recorde Value/in Rs.
1.	Account No. 5011666247 of Citi Bank, DLF, Phase-II, Gurgaon	ShriPremNath, Smt Sheila PremNath, Smt,DeekshaPuri	10,90,47,779.43
2.	Plot of lant at No. C- 2/1056, PalamVihar, Gurgaon	SmtArchana Gupta W/o Shri Sanjay Gupta	45 lakh (+Rs. 2.65 lakh towards registration charges
3.	A/c No. 910010013974898 With AxisBank New Delhi	SmtArchana Gupta W/o Shri Sanjay Gupta	29,07,917.83
4.	Maruti Zen Car – Reg No. HR-26-BD-7902	M/s N/G/ FinancialServices	3,64,896/-
5.	A/c No.910020019164197	M/s N/G/ FinancialServices	5,23,08,849.67
6.	A/c No. 910020021019874 with Axis Bank, New Delhi	M/s G2S Management Consultants	1,23,55,150.10
7.	Plot of land at No. C- 1/627, PalamVihar, Gurgaon	SmtKiran Jain W/o ShriGauravjain	50 lakh (+Rs. 2.65 lakh towards

¶133

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¶134

	registration and stamp duty
Total	Rs18,70,14,593/-

¶135

Attachment of all these aforementioned properties has been confirmed by the Adjudication Authority, PMLA vide its order dated 20.03.2013.

¶136

(B) PROVISIONAL ATTTACHMENT ORDER No. 07/2013 DATED 31.12.2013 (FOR ATTACHMENT OF THE FOLLOWING SEVEN PROPERTIES OF SHRI SHIV RAJ PURI, 425A, Hamilton Court, DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon):-

¶137

S. No.	Details/particulars	Recorded Value/ in Rs.
1.	House No. M-4/9, DLF Phase II, Gurgaon	1,25,00,000/-
2.	Amount paid to M/s Tata Housing Development company Ltd, 3, Ground Floor, Naurang House, 21, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi for purchase of GF-A, Raisina Residency, Sector- 59, Gurgaon (4413 Sqft) against total consideration of Rs. 3,82,39,549/-	91,94,858/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 004103000026211 in IDBI Bank)
3.	Amount paid to M/s Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd, Paras Downtown Centre, Floor 5 &&, Golf Course Road, Sector-53, Gurgaon for purchase of Commercial Site, A-511, Urban Square, Golf Course Road, Sec-62, Gurgaon (1240 Sqft) against total consideration of Rs.95,23,200/-	26,18,680/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 023200021116 in HDFC Bank)
4.	Amount paid to M/s Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd, Paras Downtown Centre, Floor % && Golf Course Road, Sector-53, Gurgaon for purchase of Commercial Site, A-512, Urban Square, Golf Course Road, Sec- 62, Gurgaon (1220 Sqft) against total consideration amount of Rs.93,69,600/-	25,76,640/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 02320002116 in HDFC Bank)
5.	C-4 Haridwar Green, vill-Aneki, Hatampur, Haridwar (3850 Sqft) from M/s Arrow Infra Ltd (Hero RealtyLtd)	1,10,34,545/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 223010200017310 in AxisBank)
6.	EMAAR MGF Emrald Hills- Emerald Plaza-2, Office Space- 027, Gurgaon, (637 Sqft)	29,61,340,48/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 504181948 in HSBC Bank and No. 152801001 in Dutch Bank)
7.	EMAAR MGF Emrald Hills- Emerald Plaza-2, Office Space- 027, Gurgaon, (637 Sqft)	29,61,340,48/- (Deposited in the company‟s A/c No. 504181948 in HSBC Bank and No.

¶138

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¶139

	152801001 in Dutch Bank)
Total	Rs. 7,04,99,665.97

¶140

The provisional attachment order was passed attaching various properties of the accused persons. Thereafter, an Original complaint No. 257/2014 dated 31.12.2013 has been filed before Adjudicating Authorities, PMLA, In respect of above Provisional Attachment Order seeking confirmation of attachment of all the aforesaid seven properties issued vide said PAO by the impugned order which is under challenged.

¶141

The funds for purchase of following immovable properties, in his name, were generated from various brokerage accounts through the investments made therein under the aforesaid scheme and payments were made from his Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) A/c No. 53110532540 and HDFC Bank A/c No. 00441930004342 his reply to question No. 1 recorded on 09.11.2012, also question No. 14 and his reply thereto recorded on 16.08.2012 and question No. 6 and his reply thereto recorded on 14.09.2012):-

¶142

Name proper	of ty		Details of pa	yment made
		Name of Bank and accounts No.	Mode of payment Draft/Cheque No.	Amount	Made in favour of
House	No. M-	SCB	060661 dt	93,00,000/-	GurmeetKaur
4/9 D	LF Phase	531105342540	29.10.09	32,00,000/-
II, Gur	gaon,		344416 dt 25.09.09 Total Amount	1,25,00,000/-
GF-A Reside 59, 5513 S	Raisina ncy, Sec Gurgaon qft	SCB 53110535240	261486 dt 01.07.10 Total Amount	55,76,538/- 91,94,858/-	Raisina Residency
Comm site,	ercial A-511	SCB 5311053240	261482 dt 31.07.10	16,66,560/- 9,52,320/-	Urban Square Sec-62
Urban Golf Road, Gurgao Sqft	Square Course Sec. 62 n, 1240		103296 dt 01.06.10		Gurgaon
Comm	ercial	SCB	261481	16,39680/-	Urban Square
site,	A-511	5311053240	dt 31.07.10	9,36,960/-	Sec-62
Urban Golf Road,	Square Course Sec. 62		103292 dt 01.06.10		Gurgaon

¶143

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¶144

Gurgaon, 1240 Sqft		Total amount	25,76,640/-
C-4 Haridwar	DCB	DD 003037 dt	5,00,000/-	Arrow Infra
Green, Vill-	53110532540	3.9.10	5.00.000/-	Ltd
Aneki, Hatampur		335885 dt 1.9.10	13,29,250/- 87,05,295/-
3850 Sqft		335888 dt 20.9.10 391902 dt 1.11.10 Total Amount	1,10,34,545/-
EMAA MGF	HDFC	DD666115 dt	5,00,000/-	Emerald Plaza
Emerald Hills-	004419300043	4.12.09	2,86,952/-
Emerald Plaza	42	808306 dt	2,86,952/-
2, Office Space-	SCB	10.3.10	73903/-
027 Gurggaon	53110532540	808332	,
637- Sqft		dt 20.3.10	18,13,533.48
		746536 dt 25.1.10
		261489 dt 17.10.10 Total Amount	29,61,340.48
EMAAR MGF Emerald Hills-	HDFC 004419300043	DD 66616 dt 4.12.09	5,00,000/-	Emerald Plaza
Emerald Plaza- 2, Office Space-	42	808307 dt 10.3.10	2,86,952/-
028 Gurgaon, 53/Sqft		808333 dt 20.03.10	2,86,952/-
		746837 dt 25.1.10	73,903/-
	SCB 53110532540	261488 dt 10.10.10	18,13,533.48
		Total Amount	29,61,340.48

¶145

The appellant has stated that her husband has also cheated her. The said property was purchased prior to the date of offence. Therefore, it cannot be said that the said property is also acquired from the proceed of crime. It is stated when he made his statement under Section 50, he had already gifted the said property to her. The said property is part of settlement which was recorded before court.

¶146

Her case is that the House No. M-4/9, DLF Phase-II Gurgaon is not involved in money-laundering and further there is no reason to believe that the non attachment of the said property is likely to be concealed, transferred or dealt with in any manner which may result in frustrating any proceedings under the Act.

¶147

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¶148

It is stated by her that she is the prime victim of the disgraceful act of the accused – Sh. ShivrajPuri (herein referred as ex-husband of the Appellant) and his family who have cheated her and caused greater damage to her than others with whom he had defrauded.

¶149

Prior to involving her husband in FIR registered in the year 2011, the facts are that she was appointed as Assistant Manager at Citibank Gurgaon branch on 27^th July 2004. She got married to Mr. ShivrajPuri on 2^nd December 2007. It is stated by her that after the marriage, things did not work out properly and material differences cropped up between the parties. Apart from being frequently humiliated and abused by ShivrajPuri and his family.

¶150

It was revealed that Mr. ShivrajPuri was having an extra marital affair with his office colleague VandanaMandhana. She states that there is a solid proof including Statements from VandanaMandhana to Citibank confirming their love affair since Feb 2008 and their illicit relationship leading their families to meet and legalize their getting married in 2009 has been submitted before the Hon‟blecourt .Further copies of LIC Insurance Polices dated May 2009 with her name updated as wife of ShivrajPuri and Copy of Statements given by ShivrajPuri to the Police during investigation have been filed.

¶151

It is also stated by her that ShivrajPuri had also forged the Appellant‟s Signatures and had filed a Divorce application in the Gurgaon Court in July 2009. However, in the same year, Mr. ShivrajPuri promised the Appellant to put an end to all such illicit relationship and start afresh in a new house and during the hunt for a new house, the couple came across with house no. M-4/9 Phase-2 Gurgaon which was found suitable in terms of location and affordability. Finally, the said house was purchased by Mr. ShivrajPuri for and in trust for his wife Ms.NidhiUppal, the Appellant herein. The said house was funded with borrowings from his father/friends, redemption of his investments,

¶152

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¶153

personal savings and the gifts received by the couple from the relatives and friends in and after marriage. The House was finalized in September 2009 and payment for the same was made on 25 September, 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD No. 344416 amounting to INR 32 Lacs and then on 29^th Oct 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD Number 050661 amounting to INR 93 Lacs.

¶154

1^st Installment paid by ShivrajPuri - 25 September 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD No. 344416amounting to INR 32 Lacs. Final Installment paid by ShivrajPuri - 29^th October 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD Number 050661 amounting to INR 93 Lacs.

¶155

It is the case of the appellant that the Citibank accused ShivrajPuri had also forged the signatures of the appellant in May, 2009 and had filed a divorce application in Gurgaon Court. There was no Bank Account or property or investment or insurance policy bought by the accused with appellant as the Joint Holder or Nominee or Beneficiary. All the Bank Accounts of appellant were investigated by both Citibank and ED and no objectionable transaction was found that is why none of the appellant‟s accounts were attached. Objectionable transactions were however found between the accounts of ShivrajPuri and VandanaMandhana and in the list of accounts and investments attached – Mrs.VandanaMandhana was the nominee in most accounts and investments. The accused has also admitted these statements in his statements to Police. Copies of LIC policy of ShivrajPuri dated September,2009 with VandanaMandhana named as his wife, Confession Statement of Mrs.VandanaMandhana to Citibank dated 03 Jan, 2011 have been submitted before the Hon‟ble Court for their review. It is also important to note that ShivrajPuri and Mrs.VandanaMandhana are legally married on date.

¶156

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¶157

The appellant was separated from the accused in 2009 and was not aware of the misdeed of the accused till Citibank told her in December 2010. This further proves her innocence and non-involvement in the case. The Appellant was never named in any complaint or in FIR or called upon by any court as an accused or even as a witness.

¶158

The documents submitted by the respondent themselves confirm that their case involves proceeds of crime that came in Citibank Custodian Account that was opened by the accused in the case on 27^th Oct., 2009 bearing no. 5011666247. The SEBI circular that was the basis of the floating the Bogus Scheme has been admitted in their findings to be dated 01^st January, 2010.

¶159

It is submitted by the appellant that from August 2009 to June 2011, she invested huge amount of personal savings to renovate the said house. She even took up the loan of Rs. 17 Lacs to furnish and renovate the house and invested a total sum of Rs. 38 Lacs + Interest on Loan to furnish and renovate the house. The Appellant has filed the details of the lawful borrowings / spending made by her in relation to the said property.

¶160

When she came to know about disgraceful act of ShivrajPuri was shared with her by Citibank Team on 9^th December 2010, she had no option but to put an end to the marriage at that time she was residing in House M-4/9 DLF Phase – 2 Gurgaon. She got right to the title of the property through the gift deed dated 22^nd December, 2010.

¶161

The Appellant initiated her divorce application on 23^rd December, 2010 which was submitted to the Family Court and the 1^st Motion was filed on 06^th January 2011. It is the admitted position that none of her savings accounts were attached during their investigation in December 2010. It is alleged by her that prior to December, 2010, she was unaware about the misdoing of ShivrajPuri and her innocence and non involvement was further proven when

¶162

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¶163

the Appellant was not namedin FIR No. 341/2010 dated 27^th December, 2010 registered at PS DLF Phase-II under sections 420/467/468/471/120B or any proceedings arising therefrom. During the investigation which started in December 2010, it was revealed that all bank accounts and investments of ShivrajPuri had VandanaMandhana as the Nominee. Evidences collected in Jan, 2011 further confirmed, ShivrajPuri was living with VandanaMandhana as husband and wife since 2009 at Central Park rented apartment. As per appellant, there were transfers from his account to the savings account of VandanaMandhana but no such objectionable transfer / transaction was found when the bank accounts of NidhiUppal were investigated.

¶164

It is the specific case of appellant that she was not aware about the involvement of the accused till Citibank informed her on9^th December, 2010. The Complete case is about how ShivrajPuri forged a SEBI Circular dated 1^st Jan 2010and allied fraudulently allured investors through that to invest money for getting high returns by opening an account in the name of Premnath Custodian account No. 501166247 at Citibank Gurgaon Branch on 27^th Oct, 2009 and the investigation has been done for the period 27^th Oct, 2009 till 09 August, 2012.There was no transaction in the said Citibank account till November, 2009.

¶165

The Appellant was removed from the aforesaid premises by the Gurgaon Police on 09^th June 2011without any notice. The premises was locked. Her belongings including her Education & Experience Certificates, clothes and her personal belongings were inside the house. The possession was taken by the ED.

¶166

Admittedly, in the FIR no. 341/201 dated 27^th December, 2010 registered as PS DLF Phase-II under sections 420/467/468/471/120B or any proceedings arising therefrom including the investigation done by Citibank Investigation Team of Enforcement Directorate was based on ShivrajPuri

¶167

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¶168

forging a SEBI circular dated 01.01.2010 and luring investors to deposit money in the Citibank Account of Premnath Custodian account no. 501166247 at Citibank Gurgaon Branch on27^th Oct., 2009. However, in the said account, the money was inverted after the 1^st instalment paid by him on 25.09.2019 and the final instalment paid by him on 29.10.2009 through Standard Chartered Bank. Time and again, we have requested the respondent counsel to produce any evidence which would show prima facie that any investor has deposited the any amount prior to the final payment. However, nothing was produced.

¶169

On 27.10.2009, a Bank Account viz Custodian Account bearing No. 5011666247 was fraudulently opened with Citi Bank, Gurgaon in the joint names of ShriPremNath, Smt. ShielaPremNath& Smt. DeekshaPuri, all of whom are close relations of Shri Shiv Raj Puri, who was working as Relationship Manager, in Citi Bank, Gurgaon. A large number of investors were lured to deposit funds in the said Custodian Account and fraudulently prepared hand written deposit receipts which were issued to the investors on printed Citi Bank stationery, with the intention to show that the said Scheme was floated by the Citi Bank. The said Custodian Account was fraudulently used as a conduit to subsequently transfer funds to various accounts of the accused/suspect persons or their relatives maintained with various Brokerage Companies, viz. Religare Securities Ltd, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, India Infoline, etc. and that the said investors were kept in dark that their funds were being invested in such a manner.

¶170

The deal of the house was finalised in September, 2009 and payment for the same was made much prior to the floating of the scheme which is the basis of the case. The appellant‟s home – M-4/9, DLF Phase 2, Gurgaon was bought in instalments first being on 25^th September,2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD No. 344416 amounting to INR 32 lacs and then on 29^th October, 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD no. 050661 to INR 93 lacs.

¶171

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¶172

a) 1^st instalment paid by ShivrajPuri – 25^th September, 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD no. 344416 amounting to INR 32 lacs.

¶173

b) Final instalment paid by ShivrajPuri – 29^th October, 2009 through Standard Chartered Bank DD no. 050661 amounting to INR 93 lacs.

¶174

The said fact has not been denied by the respondent. It is evident that the property wasbought before the scam started as the Citibank Account which is the basis of the entire scam itself was opened on 27^th October, 2009 and there were no transaction in the account till November, 2009.

¶175

It is correct that the Appellanthad placed an application before the Ld. Spl. Judge, PMLA, Gurgaon to take note that one of the property (M-4/9 DLF Phase-2 Gurgaon) being discussed in the case belongs to her and no adverse decision should be taken without giving a chance to the appellant to produce the facts, which is filed in order to claim her legal right. The Gurgaon Court only observed with respect to appellant‟s plea “as non-maintainable being premature‟. As per para No.5 of the Gurgaon Court Order “Keeping in view the above said two provision of Section 8 of the Act, the application in hand is premature because it will only be decided after conclusion of the trial “whether the property in question is involved in the money laundering or is a proceeds of money laundering or not?”. It is evident that the dispute pending before this Tribunal is different than the case pending before Gurgaon Court against her ex-husband. Actually, she had tried to place her own point of view and it is rightly not allowed the prayer of the appellant in view of pendency of present appeal.

¶176

It is also a matter of fact that before taking the possession of property, no notice under section 8(4) was served upon the appellant and she was thrown out of the aforesaid premises by the Gurgaon Police on 09^th June 2011without

¶177

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¶178

any prior notice or order issued under the procedure established by law and had locked all her precious belongings including her Education & Experience Certificates, Clothes and her personal belongings inside the house. The appellant has tried to initiate the remedy before Punjab and Chandigarh High Court also requesting that her plea should be heard at the earliest as she has been running from pillar to post since June 2011. The said proceedings before Chandigarh High Court have no bearing on the present case as the impugned order has been challenged before us by filing of an appeal under Section 26 of the Act.

¶179

The Respondent has failed to submit any copy of the bank statement of Standard Chartered Bank for the period 2005 to 2011 or the Complaint / FIR against the accused prior to September 2009 to prove that the appellant‟s property – M-4/9 DLF Phase -2 Gurgaon was directly bought through the proceeds of crime, rather the documents submitted by the respondent themselves confirm that their case involves proceeds of crime that came in Citibank Custodian Account that was opened by the accused in the case on 27^th Oct 2009 bearing Account Number 5011666247.

¶180

From the investigation conducted so far, it has inter-alia emerged that ShriShivrajPuri by abusing his official position as the Relationship Manager in Citibank Gurgaon, and in furtherance to a criminal conspiracy hatched and executed by him together with his relatives/associates fraudulently opened and operated Custodian Account No. 5011666247 in the Bank in the names.

¶181

The appellant was removed from the aforesaid premises by the Gurgaon Police on 9.6.2011 without any notice. The premises was locked. Her belongings including her education and experience certificates, clothes and her personal belongings are inside the house. The possession was taken by the ED.

¶182

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¶183

The appellant is neither an accused nor a co-accused nor even a witness in the Citibank Scam being investigated and was named merely as a respondent as she was rightly a defendant and a rightful claimant of one of the property (House no.M-4/9 DLF Phase-2,Gurgaon).

¶184

In the light of above and after having gone through the entire material placed on record and entire gamut of the matter, we are of the considered view that the above-mentioned property was not acquired from the proceed of crime and is not involved in money laundering, therefore, the attachment at the hand of respondent is released by setting aside the impugned order dated 17.06.2014 only pertaining to said property. The appeal is accordingly allowed.As stated above, since the property, in question, is part of the prosecution complaint under Section-3 of the PMLA against the former husband of the appellant, ShriShivrajPuri, the appellant has to move before the Ld. Special Court, PMLA, Gurgaon to get the property releasedas per the prescribed provision of Sub-section 8 of Section 8 of the Act. In the circumstances, the appellant is at liberty to approach the Special Court in accordance with law.

¶185

42. No costs.

¶186

(Justice Manmohan Singh) Chairman

¶187

(G.C. Mishra) Member

¶188

New Delhi, 16^th September, 2019 „skb‟

¶189

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FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014 of Ms.Nidhi Uppal v/s The Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi

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FPA-PMLA-605/DLI/2014 of Ms.Nidhi Uppal v/s The Deputy Director Directorate of Enforcement, Delhi

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