ED arrests CA over ₹1,000cr laundering

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Mumbai-based chartered accountant Dinesh Jajodia in a Rs 1,000 crore money-laundering case against Geodesic Ltd following a two-year probe. Jajodia is allegedly the key link in the case and police are interrogating him to unearth the money trail.

Geodesic was known for innovations such as live internet television service called Mundu TV.

In January 2016, Mumbai police’s economic offences wing had arrested three Geodesic directors—Prashant Mulekar, Kiran Kulkarni and Pankaj Kumar—after registering a cheating case against them. The ED registered a money-laundering case against the three for allegedly defrauding investors in India and abroad. In June 2016, ED has attached Mulekar’s three Rs 3 crore flats.


During the investigation, ED reportedly found that Jajodia was the crucial link in the case and summoned him for questioning on Thursday. After recording his statement, they arrested him for custodial interrogation. On Friday, he was produced before a special court, which remanded him to five days’ ED custody.

Officials said in 2008-09, Genodesic raised funds under foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB). Citibank NA, London, acted as a trustee for the company’s overseas acquisition and business expansion activities. But the funds were not used for the specified purpose and the company allegedly diverted the money in shell companies created in various foreign countries and defrauded on payment.

The company also cheated its shareholders in India, said an ED official.

ED press release said, “Investigation revealed that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to defraud shareholders as well as FCCB holders (overseas investors) by creating a web of shell companies in various countries through fictitious dealings in order to receive wrongful gains.”

An official said that Jajodia had allegedly planned the entire strategy, from raising funds through FCCB and shareholders to diverting them into accounts of shell companies. He said, “Many of these shell companies were created by Jajodia for money laundering. He knows the details of the money trail and we are inquiring with him about it.”