India
A house in Mysuru and an agricultural Coffee Plant in Kerala's Wayanad district are the two immovable properties attached by the ED.
Updated : Nov 20, 2019, 07:40 PM IST | Edited by : Ahamad Fuwad
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 117.87 crore, including "invaluable" animal trophies and furniture made of rosewood, of a person who allegedly cheated a British taxidermist of the Maharaja of Mysore.
A house in Mysuru and an agricultural Coffee Plant in Kerala's Wayanad district are the two immovable properties attached by the central agency.
The attachment also includes around 70 invaluable animal trophies and furniture made of rosewood. The ED action was initiated on the basis of chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department, Bengaluru against Michael Floyd Eshwer.
FIR was registered by Nazarabad Police Station, Mysore City, Mysore based on the complaint received from now deceased Edwin Joubert Veningen, a British National who was a taxidermist for the Maharaja of Mysore. The probe was conducted by CID, Bengaluru after an order by the Supreme Court.
The CID probe revealed that Eshwer, who is a horse trainer, had created false adoption deed in his favour and also got a false death certificate of Veningen and then fraudulently got the properties transferred in his name.
Eshwer who was also training the horses in Mysore came to know about Veningen and the properties held by him which were gifted by the Maharaja of Mysore for his services, the ED said in a statement. When Eshwer came to know that Veningen was unmarried, he "took advantage of his old age and fraudulently took possession of the property by way of cheating."
ED said Eshwer fraudulently acquired two immovable properties from Vaningan and projected the said properties as "untainted properties and thus committed offence of money laundering."
Further investigation in this case is under progress, the agency said.