New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has cracked down hard on one of the country’s biggest financial scams, attaching prime land spread over 707 acres in the plush Amby Valley City of Lonavala—linked to the tainted Sahara Group.
The attached property, believed to be worth a staggering Rs 1,460 crore, has been seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
This latest action by the ED in Kolkata exposes how India’s financial big sharks use complex webs of companies and proxies to park black money in land and luxury real estate.
The land parcels were found to be in the names of multiple individuals—many of them mere fronts—pointing to a deliberate design to camouflage illicit funds through property acquisition.
Sources said the seized lands were part of the iconic Amby Valley project, once pitched as India's first planned hill city with ultra-luxurious villas and world-class amenities.
But over time, this dream city turned into a money-laundering safe haven for the Sahara Group, which is already under the scanner for duping millions of investors through shady deposit schemes.
ED officials revealed that the attachment is part of a wider investigation into Sahara India and its group entities, which are accused of amassing unaccounted wealth and routing it through shell firms.
The agency has already frozen several assets linked to the group and is reportedly zeroing in on more benami properties spread across the country.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” a senior ED official said. “We are tracking more such fraudulent investments disguised under layers of bogus entities.”
The case serves as yet another reminder of how India’s real estate market has become the go-to vehicle for laundering black money, especially in tourist hotspots and fast-developing luxury zones.
Despite multiple reforms and digital land records, the big fish continue to bend the rules, while common people struggle with land disputes and paperwork.
