The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday attached movable and immovable assets to the tune of Rs 103.73 crores of Garvit Innovative Promoters Ltd, its promoter Sanjay Bhati and others in BIKEBOT SCAM under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
"Attached assets include 26 immovable properties totalling to Rs 101.45 crores situated in Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Kanpur and Indore along with bank balances in 22 bank accounts totalling to Rs. 2.28 crores," ED stated in a release.
PMLA investigation in the BIKEBOT scam was taken up in June 2019 on the basis of FIRs registered at Dadri police station in Gautam Budh Nagar against the above-mentioned company and its promoter Sanjay Bhati and others.
Garvit innovative Promoters Ltd. (GIPL) and its promoter Sanjay Bhati, along with others, had floated highly lucrative investment plans in the guise of a BIKE TAXI service by the name of BIKEBOT, wherein a customer could invest in 1, 3, 5 or 7 bikes which would be maintained and operated by the company and the investor would be paid monthly rent, EMI and bonuses (in case of investment in multiple bikes) and further incentives on adding additional investors in a binary/Multi-Level Marketing structure, stated the official release.
During the investigation by the Directorate, searches were conducted at 12 locations which resulted in the recovery of details of several properties and incriminating documents. A survey conducted in a Co-operative bank in Noida revealed suspicious transactions and involvement of some banking officials in aiding and abetting the accused in the laundering of public money.
Further investigation, in this case, is in progress.
( With inputs from ANI )