New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) More than two dozen agricultural land parcels worth Rs 2.38 crore were attached by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday in Uttar Pradesh as part of a money laundering probe against the promoters of a ‘bike taxi scheme’.
The scheme’s promoters have allegedly siphoned off public funds worth Rs 72 crore.
The 28 land parcels, provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are registered in the name of associate companies of Hello Ride Ltd and located at Mohanlalganj in Lucknow, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement on Friday.
The total value of the land parcels is Rs 2.38 crore, it said.
The attached properties were acquired through proceeds of crime derived from deposits made by investors during 2018-2019, the agency said.
The directors of Hello Ride Ltd had launched a ‘bike taxi scheme’ under the banner of “Hello Ride” similar to Ola and Uber services (taxi cab aggregator companies), and the company had promised to pay Rs 9,585 per month for a year on an investment of Rs 61,000 per bike, the ED said.
With the allurement of such a high return on investment, Hello Ride Ltd collected deposits to the tune of Rs 72 crore from people and did not fulfil its promise to pay the monthly returns to its investors, it said.
The PMLA case stems from FIRs registered in 2019 by the Uttar Pradesh Police against the company and its directors who include Abhay Kumar Kushwaha, Nikhil Kushwaha, Mohd. Azam Ali and Neelam Verma. PTI NES ANB ANB
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