By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached 33 flats worth Rs 462 crore in connection with money laundering case probe relating to alleged violation of the slum rehabilitation scheme in the Bandra area of Mumbai.

The action was taken in connection with a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) registered by the agency in March last year. Searches also were conducted at properties related to former Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Baba Siddique. The case is related to use of fake documents to avail additional floor space index (FSI) under a slum rehabilitation scheme (SRA).

The attached properties belonged to Ms Pyramid Developers, the agency officials have said.

Pyramid Developers was the developer while one Neo Modern Architects was appointed as the architect for the redevelopment project. A number of violations were committed in the construction of the building by allowing exemptions which were not available to the said project by virtue of it being in the CRZ-II (costal regulation zone) and in effect consuming FSI in excess of permissible limit, which is 1.5 in aggregate.

Siddique was Chairman of the Mumbai board of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) that was the land owning authority in this case and hence a local court had ordered the police to probe financial irregularities in the case after which Mumbai police had lodged an FIR in the case in 2014. ED took cognisance of the FIR and lodged a case under PMLA.

This is the first attachment in this case.