New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday said it has seized assets worth over Rs 1,023 crore, including properties in Singapore, in an alleged illegal iron ore mining case in Goa. The ED said in a statement that a temporary order was issued on June 19 under the Money Laundering Act in the case of large-scale illegal iron ore mining by Salgaocar Group and Associates (AVS Group).
According to the investigating agencies, AVS Group had run 10 mining leases between 2007 and 2012. In these 5 years, they extracted iron ore illegally and exported it and earned a huge profit of about Rs 2492.95 crore. This ore was sold at very low prices to some shale companies based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). These shale companies further raised about Rs 2744.89 crore by selling this ore abroad. In this way, the total account of money laundering and illegal deals in those 5 years reached Rs 5237.84 crore.