Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable and movable assets worth Rs 188.41 crore in connection with a money laundering probe involving M/s Dnyanradha Multistate Co-operative Credit Society Ltd (DMCSL), Suresh Kute, and others, The Central agency said on Saturday.

The assets, attached on May 9, include land, buildings, and plant & machinery belonging to various entities of the Kute Group of companies, situated in Maharashtra’s Beed district. With the latest action, the total value of seizures and attachments in the case now stands at Rs 1,621.89 crore. .

The ED had earlier filed a prosecution complaint(PC) on March 6 before a special PMLA court in Mumbai against 24 accused, including DMCSL and its promoter Suresh Kute. The accused have been charged with defrauding investors through illegal deposit schemes that promised interest returns ranging from 12% to 14%. However, when the deposits matured, investors were either not paid at all oror were only partially refunded, leading to significant financial losses.

The ED’s investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, revealed that Suresh Kute and his associates lured over 4 lakh investors to deposit money into DMCSL, promising high returns. However, instead of fulfilling these promises, investors were cheated, as the funds were embezzled and misused.

The ED's case in the matter is based on multiple FIRs registered by various police stations in Maharashtra under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act with respect to the alleged fraud committed with investors by Kute and others through DMCSL.

According to the agency, DMCSL was managed and controlled by Suresh Dnyanobarao Kute, Yashvant V. Kulkarni and others. Kute was arrested on January 7 this year and remains in judicial custody.

The central agency’s investigation revealed that the funds of DMCSL were embezzled by the management of the society as part of which Kute and the others hatched a criminal conspiracy to illegally and fraudulently divert Rs 2,467 crore in the guise of loans to various companies of The Kute Group, a group of companies beneficially owned by Kute and his family. The funds were then routed through the group’s multiple accounts or withdrawn in cash, and allegedly used for acquiring properties, setting up new businesses, and other personal expenses.

Earlier, the ED had conducted search operations on August 9, September 20, and October 14 last year. During these operations, movable assets worth Rs11 crore were frozen and seized. Additionally, the agency issued provisional attachment orders for assets worth Rs 85.88 crore on September 24, Rs 1,002.79 crore on October 9, and Rs 333.82 crore on November 5 last year.