New Delhi: In its money laundering probe against the owners of Birch By Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into movement of funds in bank accounts, the alleged forgery to obtain the licence to run the club and remittances abroad. The nightclub was the scene of a fire that claimed 25 lives last month. Several others considered responsible for the tragedy are also under investigation.
Several teams of the probe agency swooped down on eight locations linked to club owners Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra across Goa and New Delhi Friday to conduct raids. Arpora-Nagoa panchayat secretary Raghuvir Bagkar and former sarpanch Roshan Redkar were also raided.
A team of the agency further raided the premises of UK national Surinder Kumar Khosla to examine the money-laundering angle arising from the alleged illegal conversion of khazan land (wetlands), on which Birch by Romeo Lane was situated, into one for commercial purposes, sources said.
The Luthra brothers are in custody of the Goa Police in the fire case. They were deported from Thailand, where they had fled hours after the fire broke out on the intervening night of 5 and 6 December. The majority of fatalities were the kitchen staff of the nightclub.
Sources in the ED said the money laundering probe stems from a second FIR filed by the Goa Police that alleges forgery to obtain the trade licence and no-objection certificate from the authorities to run the nightclub.
Advocate A.V. Pathiran, representing the Luthra brothers in the local court in Goa, has rebutted the allegations, saying that no government department was approached by his clients for NOC and that they were unaware of any fraudulent exercise being carried out by their staff.
Also Read: Hours after nightclub fire, Delhi-based owner-brothers fled to Thailand via IndiGo flight—Goa Police
Complaint from health dept
The ED swung into action based on the FIR filed on 17 December against the authorised representatives of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub for intentionally and dishonestly generating an NOC from the primary health centre in North Goa’s Candolim.
The FIR by the Goa Police was filed under Sections 336 (2&3) (forgery), 338 (forgery of valuable securities, wills or authority documents), 340(2) (dishonestly using a forged document or electronic record as genuine), 318 (4) (cheating by dishonestly inducing the delivery of property or valuable security), and 3(5) (common intention for criminal act) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on the complaint of the health officer, who alleged forgery of his signature.
The fraudulently obtained health department licence was later submitted to the excise department to obtain a trade licence, it is alleged.
The health officer alleged that the NOC submitted by the nightclub’s authorised persons was actually issued in the name of another restaurant based in Calangute, North Goa.
“Upon internal verification of our records, it is confirmed that our department has not issued any such NOC to the aforementioned establishment or individual. The document in question is a forged document, and the signature on it is fake/unauthorised,” he stated in his police complaint.
Sources in the ED said all records related to the conversion of land will be examined based on the documents seized during raids.
“Considering the forgery, right from the underlying NOC and other documents which formed the basis of the trade licence from the excise department, the entire business operation and revenue amounts to generation of proceeds of crime,” an official said.
They added that a “thorough” examination of documents and financial trails would, however, also reveal genuine transactions, such as payment of salaries to staff, taxes, etc.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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