Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 5: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets, including properties and bank balances, worth Rs 4 crore in connection with an extortion and criminal conspiracy case involving fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Salim Iqbal Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel, an official said on Thursday.

The ED's Mumbai Zonal Office attached the movable and immovable assets under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The attached assets include Lambat Building in Dongri, currently held in the name of Shazia Salim Iqbal Qureshi, wife of Salim Fruit, along with bank balances belonging to Aslam Abdul Rehman Patni and other accused. The total value of the provisionally attached assets is Rs 4 crore, the ED said.

The investigation was initiated based on an FIR registered at Dadar Police Station and subsequently investigated by the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. The FIR relates to allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and the use of forged documents.

According to the ED, its investigation revealed that the accused, including Shabbir Ahmed Hassan Karolia and Yusuf Ahmed Hassen Karolia, allegedly conspired to illegally acquire Lambat Building by impersonating the original owner and fabricating documents, including a deed of conveyance.

The ED further alleged that Aslam Abdul Rehman Patni acquired a 50 per cent share in Lambat Building, belonging to Yasmin Mohammed Ahmed and late Sherzada Jangrez Khan, in 2019 by threatening and coercing them in the name of the D-Company, Dawood Ibrahim and Salim Iqbal Qureshi alias Salim Fruit.

The original owners were allegedly dispossessed of their share without any payment of consideration. Subsequently, Patni transferred the property to Shazia Salim Iqbal Qureshi, wife of Salim Fruit, thereby facilitating its acquisition and retention in the name of the latter's family, the ED said.

The investigation further indicated that successive transactions were structured to create an appearance of legitimate transfer of the property, which was allegedly acquired through extortion and coercion. The property ultimately came to be held in the name of Salim Fruit's wife, the agency added.