Times of India | ED attaches Rs 11 crore property linked to Birch inferno

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The Enforcement Directorate’s Panaji office has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at about Rs 11 crore under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act in connection with the illegal operation of the Birch nightclub in Arpora, where a fire on 6 December 2025 killed 25 people and injured many others. Investigations, prompted by FIRs filed by Anjuna and Mapusa police against the club’s partners for forgery, fake NOCs and operating without statutory approvals, revealed that the venue’s trade licence had expired in March 2024 yet continued to run, generating roughly Rs 30 crore in revenue between FY 2023‑24 and FY 2025‑26 – proceeds now deemed crime‑related. Earlier searches in January 2026 led to the seizure of documents, digital devices and a freeze on bank accounts of about Rs 59 lakh, and a prior provisional attachment of Rs 17 crore. With the latest attachment, the total value of assets frozen in the case stands at roughly Rs 29 crore.

Read more: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/ed-attaches-rs-11-crore-property-linked-to-birch-inferno/articleshow/131358168.cms

#EnforcementDirectorate #Birch #RomeoLane #SaurabhLuthra #PMLA

Times of India | Government notifies FDI changes on China funds

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The Centre has issued two major amendments to India’s foreign‑direct‑investment (FDI) policy. Effective May 1, firms with up to a 10 % Chinese shareholding may now invest under the automatic route, dropping the previous rule that required government approval for all investments from countries sharing a land border with India; the change, prompted by concerns from global investors, still excludes entities incorporated in China, Hong Kong or other bordering nations and applies only when “significant beneficial ownership” is below the 10 % threshold. Multilateral development banks such as ADB, NDB and AIIB are also exempted from country‑specific treatment. In addition, the government has opened the insurance sector to 100 % FDI, allowing full foreign ownership of insurers and intermediaries (brokers, TPAs, corporate agents), while limiting automatic‑route investment in the Life Insurance Corporation of India to 20 % and requiring the chairman or MD‑CEO to be an Indian resident. These steps aim to boost capital inflows amid a weak rupee.

Read more: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/government-notifies-fdi-changes-on-china-funds/articleshow/130724067.cms

#ADB #China #PMLA #ForeignInvestment #InsuranceCompanies

Times of India | ED files PMLA plaint against firm, its director for defrauding bank

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lodged a prosecution complaint in a special PMLA court against Ottis Associates Private Limited and its director, Suresh Kumar Kashliwal, for allegedly defrauding a private bank by obtaining a ₹3 crore cash‑credit facility in 2009 through forged documents and the mortgaging of properties that had already been sold. The ED alleges that signatures of guarantors were falsified, the death of a guarantor was concealed, and inflated balance sheets were submitted, after which the loan proceeds were routed through about 36 vendor payments to mask the illicit funds. The loan was classified as a non‑performing asset in 2013, declared fraudulent in 2019, and the bank reported a total loss of ₹8.62 crore, including interest; although the accused later repaid the principal of ₹3.10 crore, the money‑laundering offense is deemed ongoing.

Read more: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/ed-files-pmla-plaint-against-firm-its-director-for-defrauding-bank/articleshow/130683552.cms

#EnforcementDirectorate #OttisAssociates #SureshKumar #CBI #PMLA #SureshKumarKashliwal #RumiJalan #NarayanDeka #NirmalaDeviKashliwal