ED attaches assets of Iqbal Kaskar’s associate worth Rs 55 lakh in extortion case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached an immovable asset in the form of a flat worth around Rs. 55 lakhs located in Thane, Maharashtra held in the name of Mumtaz Ezaz Shaikh, a close associate of Iqbal Kaskar, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in an extortion case.

ED initiated the money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR dated 18.09.2017 registered against Iqbal Kaskar (brother of Underworld Gangster Dawood Ibrahim), Mumtaz Sheikh and Israr Ali Jamil Saiyad for extortion under various sections of IPC. After conducting an investigation, a final report under Section 173 of IPC dated 13.11.2017 was filed by Kasarvadvali Police station, Thane under sections 3(i)(ii), 3(2), 3(4) and 3(5) of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999 read with section 384, 386, 387, 34 and 120B of IPC.

An investigation by ED revealed that complainant Suresh Devichand Mehta, a real estate builder and developer, was running the business construction with his partner through his firm M/s Darshan enterprises. The accused Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Sheikh and Israr Ali Jamil Saiyad due to close proximity with underworld Gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar managed to extort one flat in Thane in the name of Mumtaz Ezaz Shaikh. Besides the aforesaid flat, 4 cheques totalling Rs 10 lakhs as demanded by them were issued by the builder which has been encashed by the accused by cash withdrawals. These accounts were operated only for withdrawing the cash amount of Rs 10 lakhs and no other transactions were carried out in these accounts. These accounts were operated to hide the end-user/real user of the extorted amounts. It is also revealed that the accused persons extorted cash amounts from Suresh Devichand Mehta during that period.

On 18.02.2022 Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar was arrested for his involvement in the offence of Money Laundering and is presently under judicial custody. On identification of the Proceeds of Crime in the form of flat at thane held in the name of Mumtaz Shaikh, the same has been provisionally attached under PMLA.

Further investigation is in progress.