Ahmedabad, Nov 27 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ahmedabad Zonal Office, has filed a prosecution complaint before the Special PMLA Court in Mirzapur on November 24, against Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Sagathiya and two others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Sagathiya, a public servant serving as a Town Planning Officer with the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, is accused of amassing disproportionate assets and laundering illicit funds over more than a decade.
The ED action stems from an FIR registered by the ACB, Rajkot, which alleged that Sagathiya accumulated disproportionate assets worth Rs 24.31 crore between April 1, 2012 and May 31, 2024.
The agency’s probe found that Sagathiya had invested substantial proceeds of crime into multiple movable and immovable properties, routing money through various bank accounts held in his name as well as those of his wife, Bhavnaben, and son, Keyur.
Investigators uncovered several recurring deposit (RD) accounts opened at the Rajkot Head Post Office between February 2015 and June 2022 in the names of Sagathiya’s family members.
The RD accounts received regular cash deposits, and the closure proceeds were later used to purchase immovable assets, the ED said.
Assets worth Rs 21.61 crore — including cash, gold, diamonds, silver jewellery, foreign currency, high-end watches, and several properties — have already been attached under Section 5 of PMLA on April 29, 2025.
The ED stated that these assets are directly linked to the proceeds of crime and form part of a deliberate laundering mechanism employed by Sagathiya.
Further investigation into the money trail, layering of funds, and identification of additional beneficiaries is underway.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is India’s central agency responsible for investigating and enforcing laws related to economic crimes, especially offences involving money laundering and foreign exchange violations.
Operating under the Ministry of Finance, the ED primarily enforces two key laws: the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which targets the laundering of proceeds of crime, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which regulates cross-border financial transactions.
The agency traces illegal money trails, attaches properties acquired through criminal proceeds, files prosecution complaints in special courts, and works with national and international bodies to curb financial fraud, hawala networks, and economic offences that threaten India’s financial integrity.
--IANS
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