ED seizes flat in money laundering case against Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized a Rs 55 lakh flat in Thane, Maharashtra, in connection with an investigation into a money laundering case. The flat is in the name of an alleged associate of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar.

The residential house in Neopolis Building in Thane West has been attached under a provisional order issued in 2022 under the PMLA against its owner Mumtaz Ejaz Shaikh, sources in the federal probe agency said on Tuesday.

The adjudicating authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cleared the provisional attachment order thereby giving the green signal for ED to take possession of the flat. Sources said the process of taking possession of the flat was completed recently. ED had earlier stated in a statement that the flat was forcibly taken from Thane-based real estate developer Suresh Devichand Mehta by Kaskar and others.

"Mehta was running a construction business through his firm Darshan Enterprises along with his partner. The accused Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Shaikh, and Israr Ali Jameel Saeed had usurped a flat in Thane in the name of Mumtaz Ejaz Shaikh due to their proximity to underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar," the agency had said.

It was then said that apart from the flat, four cheques of Rs 10 lakh each were issued by the builder as per their demand, which was encashed by the accused through cash withdrawals. The money laundering case is linked to an FIR filed by the Thane police in September 2017. The police had filed charges against the accused under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Kaskar is currently in jail under judicial custody. Dawood Ibrahim has been declared a terrorist by India and is said to be living in Pakistan.