The federal investigation agency, through the anti-money laundering statute, has apprehended an alleged imposter who threatened the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in a huge investment fraud scheme in Hyderabad. Kalyan Banerjee was arrested on January 10 after a raid in his residence in Secunderabad. The officials said he was subsequently taken before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Nampally where he was remanded to ED custody until January 23.
The case is connected with the continuing ED probe of Nowhera Shaik and several of her associates who are accused of embezzling over 5978 crore of investments. The accused assured of over 36 per cent annual returns but instead could not even accept the principal amount, thousands of investors lost their money. The ED has already annexed assets worth 428 crore in the case and, having received the permission of the Supreme Court, intends to auction the properties to repay the defrauded sum of money to the victims, as per the provisions of the PMLA.
The agency pointed out that Shaik employed Banerjee on commission and remuneration basis. To subject the ED officials to intimidation and pressure, Banerjee supposedly represented himself as a strong representative with personal contacts with high-ranking bureaucrats and politicians. He allegedly made threatening messages and made calls one to manipulate the current auction process. Banerjee also raised his threats when ED officers were unwilling to cooperate on due process, and tried to delay the restitution process.
The arrest highlights the attitude of the ED to uphold the integrity of its investigations and ensure that the high-profile financial fraud cases are not interfered with. Police are still investigating the chain of people who participated in the Hyderabad investment fraud in order to restore money to the victims.
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