New Delhi, March 8 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ashish Bhalla, the promoter of the Delhi-NCR-based realty group WTC, in a money laundering case linked to homebuyers' funds. Bhalla was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Thursday and a special court in Gurugram sent him to ED custody for six days, said officials.
The ED charged that after promising assured returns in exchange for investment against plots or commercial spaces, WTC "diverted" the funds of depositors and these were "siphoned off" to several shell companies to acquire lands at various locations. Hundreds of crores of rupees were also diverted to suspicious entities in Singapore whose beneficial ownership is with Bhalla's...