ED acquires assets worth over Rs 290 cr of entertainment company ET Retail

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached properties worth over Rs 290 crore of an entertainment and recreation services company, including the popular GIP Mall of Noida, as part of a money laundering probe. The company – International Amusement Limited (the holding company of International Recreation and Amusement Ltd. (IRAL) – is accused of raising over Rs 400 cr from around 1,500 investors in return for the promise of allotment of shops/other space in Sectors 29 and 52-A in Gurugram, it said in a statement. However, the entity “failed to implement” the project and failed to meet deadlines, it alleged, adding that investors were not paid monthly guaranteed returns.

The company “siphoned investor money and placed it with related individuals/entities, which was used for personal gain.”

It was alleged that a backdated agreement was entered into between the promoter directors and the EOD (buying entity) to eliminate the business advance from IRAL’s balance sheet, enabling the outgoing directors to “shirk” their obligations to IRAL.

“The directors/promoters of International Recreation and Amusement Ltd. siphoned off over Rs 400 cr (belonging to investors in Sector 29 and 52-A, Gurugram project) with a deliberate intention to park investors’ funds in other related entities and then sell to close the company at low valuations and get rid of all liabilities of investors,” the ED alleged.

Assets worth Rs 291.18 crore of International Amusement Limited in Entertainment City Limited in the form of unsold commercial space of 3,93,737.28 sq ft in Great India Place Mall (GIP) Noida, commercial space of 45,966 sq ft square meters located in the name of Adventure Island Limited, Rohini and the lease rights of a land measuring 218 acres in the village of Daulatpur Tehsil, Jaipur, held in the name of International Amusement and Infrastructure Limited, have been provisionally attached.

The order was issued on May 28 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).