FEMA violation: ED attaches property of Mangaluru-based businessman

Mangaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), the specialized financial investigation agency of the Union government, has attached the properties of a Mangaluru-based businessman for violation of FEMA rules.

The ED said on Thursday that it has attached property worth Rs 8.3 crore belonging to a person named Iqbal Ahmed for acquiring immovable property abroad in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), IANS reported.

“Based on the information received by the ED that Ahmed, a resident of Mangaluru, who’s the Managing Director of Iqbal Ahmed Infra Projects Pvt Ltd and Sharief Marine Products Pvt Ltd, had acquired immovable property outside India by violating the provisions of FEMA, the matter was taken up for detailed investigation and action was taken,” The report quoted an ED official as saying.

The official said that during the course of the investigation, it was found that Ahmed had acquired immovable property in the UAE worth Rs 8.3 crore. This was in clear violation of Section 4 of FEMA.

“As per the rules, if any foreign exchange, foreign security, or immovable property, situated outside India, is suspected to have been held in contravention of Section 4 of FEMA, then the ED is empowered to seize value equivalent within India, of such foreign exchange, foreign security or immovable property,” the official said.

Accordingly, immovable property in the form of a residential house situated in Attavara, Mangaluru, worth Rs 8.3 crore was seized by the ED under Section 37A of FEMA.

(With inputs from IANS)