The Ahmedabad zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday said it provisionally attached assets in the form of three immovable properties — one bungalow and two open plots — worth Rs 6.80 crore in Ahmedabad under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an ongoing investigation against Tehmul Sethna, a practicing chartered accountant. The case is related to alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. The ED said it had initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by Navarangpura police station in Ahmedabad that revealed that Sethna was handling all the affairs of Environment Research & Development Centre, a trust dedicated to implementing various humanitarian and welfare projects. While managing the trust, he allegedly executed unauthorised withdrawals worth Rs 6.85 crore from its bank account through forged signatures of the trustees, without their knowledge. The investigation, as per the agency, also revealed that the "unauthorized withdrawals executed from the bank account of the trust was further routed by the accused through multiple individuals/entities directly/indirectly controlled by him thereby creating maze of transaction to conceal the true source of money and to showcase the tainted money as untainted". Further investigation is under progress.
