Lucknow, Jan 22 (IANS) A Special Court (PMLA) in Lucknow has taken cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the ED against a property advisor, who cheated property owners by making a false promise of redeveloping their assets, an official said on Thursday.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Allahabad Sub-Zonal Office, had filed a charge sheet on September 29, 2025, before the Special Court (CBI), West, Lucknow, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the case of Yogesh Kumar Tiwari, arraigning him as an accused.
The Special Court took cognisance of the chargesheet on Wednesday, said an official statement.
The ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by Uttar Pradesh Police at Police Station Jhunsi, Prayagraj, under various Sections of IPC, 1860, for committing the offences of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation.
The investigation pertains to a deliberate scheme by which the accused fraudulently induced the complainant to transfer multiple immovable properties on false assurances of installing development projects and providing future financial benefits, the ED said.
The ED investigation revealed that the accused, Yogesh Tiwari, while falsely projecting himself as a well-established businessman, property dealer and a person having strong connections with builders and bureaucrats, deceived the complainant and fraudulently acquired five immovable properties without making the due payment.
Out of these properties, three were subsequently sold to third parties, and the sale proceeds were withdrawn and siphoned off for personal use. The ED has identified Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 1.41 crore in the case.
During the course of investigation, ED provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 78 Lakh vide Provisional Attachment Order dated November 8, 2024, under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. The said attachment was confirmed by the Ld. Adjudicating Authority, PMLA.
In the Prosecution Complaint, the ED established that the accused knowingly generated, acquired, possessed, concealed and used the Proceeds of Crime and attempted to project the same as untainted property. Accordingly, the offence of money laundering under Section 3, punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA, 2002, has been made out against the accused.
–IANS
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