Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth approximately Rs 271.48 crore belonging to Mumbai-based businessman Rajendra Narpatmal Lodha, the former director of Lodha Developers, in connection with a money laundering case against him.
The attached assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) include land parcels located in Panvel and Shahapur in Maharashtra, belonging to Lodha and others.
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The ED initiated its probe based on FIRs registered by Mumbai Police against Lodha and others under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for alleged cheating, abuse of official position, unauthorised sale of assets, and creation of false documents, causing wrongful loss to Lodha Developers, a listed company.
According to the ED, its investigation revealed that Lodha was involved in diverting and siphoning funds and assets of the company through the unauthorised sale and transfer of immovable properties at undervalued prices to proxy entities and individuals connected to him, without approval from the Board of Directors.
The agency further alleged that Lodha fabricated Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for land purchases at inflated prices and siphoned off the inflated amounts as cash through sellers, thereby misappropriating company funds. It said that Lodha, along with associates and related entities, accumulated assets through fraudulent activities, resulting in wrongful loss to the company.
It was further alleged that a prime plot owned by Lodha Developers was sold by Lodha to his son’s company at a throwaway price.
Earlier, the ED conducted search operations in November 2025, at 14 locations in the Mumbai region under PMLA provisions, leading to the freezing and seizure of assets worth approximately Rs 88 crore. With the latest attachment, the total seizure and attachment in the case now stands at about Rs 359.48 crore.
The case first came to light in September 2025, when Lodha Developers filed a criminal complaint against Rajendra Lodha and others, prompting the Mumbai Crime Branch’s property cell to initiate an investigation.
Subsequently, Rajendra Lodha and several co-accused were arrested on suspicion of fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy. Investigators have since uncovered multiple instances of alleged embezzlement involving both cash and gold.
The ED arrested Rajendra Lodha in February, and he is currently in judicial custody.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
