Kolkata, July 25 (IANS) Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 15.47 crore connected to Delta Limited and others under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), an official said on Friday.

The seizure of properties was made on July 23. The agency also filed a final prosecution complaint on July 24 against Delta Limited and seven others before a special court of PMLA in Kolkata.

“ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered at Hare Street Police Station, Kolkata, on the directions of Calcutta High Court, issued in writ petitions alleging non-payment of statutory dues, such as Provident Fund (PF), despite regular deductions from salaries. The said FIR was registered against Delta Limited and others for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, and misappropriation of workers’ provident fund deductions,” the agency said in a statement issued on Friday.

According to ED, investigation revealed that approximately 800 workers of Delta Limited and its associated entities were cheated through misuse of their Provident Fund Trust (Delta Jute and Industries Ltd Worker’s Provident Fund Trust).

“The company had an exemption under the EPF Act, which allowed it to manage the PF money through its trust. This trust was meant to work independently for the benefit of employees by properly investing their PF money. However, in violation of this purpose, in criminal conspiracy, employees were appointed as trustees instead of professionals or fund managers,” the ED statement read.

According to it, these employees acted only as per the directions of the management and had no real control over the years, due to continuous violations of rules and financial losses, the exemption was cancelled in 2014.

“Even after this, and even when a court case was going on, the company continued deducting PF from workers’ salaries but did not deposit it either in the trust or with the PF authorities. The money was wrongfully retained. The company deliberately avoided depositing the statutory contributions deducted from employees,” the ED said.

The withheld amounts, according to ED, were subsequently laundered and used for non-permitted purposes, including repayment of loans, meeting business expenses, and property transactions.

The total proceeds of crime in this case are Rs 15.47 crore. “It is worth highlighting that provisional attachment of full proceeds of crime in the form of immovable properties has been done and final prosecution complaint has been filed,” the ED statement read.

–IANS

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