New Delhi:

Preeti Chandra, wife of jailed Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra, has been arrested in an alleged money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate. Sanjay Chandra’s father Ramesh Chandra has been arrested in the case as well, sources said.  

Early this year, the agency filed a criminal case under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the Unitech Group and its promoters — Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra – over allegations that they illegally diverted over Rs 2,000 crore to Cyprus and the Cayman Islands.

“Total proceeds of crime in this case is Rs 5,063.05 crore as determined till now,” the agency had said.  

In March, raids were conducted at 35 locations in in Mumbai and the National Capital Region belonging to the Unitech Group and several others — Shivalik Group, Trikar Group, and Carnoustie Group.  

In July, the Enforcement Directorate attached a London hotel worth Rs 58.61 crore in connection with the money laundering probe. The hotel, named Bed and Breakfast, is owned by a company called Ibournshorne Limited, a UK-based associate firm of the Carnoustie group.

This was part of the Chandras’ properties in India and abroad attached by the agency, the overall valuation of which is around Rs 600 crore.

Ramesh Chandra and his sons — Sanjay and Ajay Chandra – are also accused of allegedly defrauding Canara Bank of Rs 198 crore.  

In a complaint filed in November last year, the bank had said Unitech – which had been a customer since 1971 and availed various credit facilities – had defaulted on multiple payments.

Two months ago, the Chandra brothers were shifted from Delhi’s Tihar Jail to Mumbai’s Arthur Road and Taloja Jail after the Enforcement Directorate found a “secret underground office” in South Delhi’s Green Park, which, it said, they were using “while on parole or bail”.