An under-construction luxury hotel in Colombo has come under scrutiny as part of a money laundering investigation involving a Gurugram-based real estate company, according to Indian media reports.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India, a government agency responsible for investigating money laundering and foreign exchange violations, revealed that the property is among assets valued at over Indian Rupees 200 crore and connected to Krrish Realtech Private Limited, a company promoted by businessman Amit Katyal.
In a statement, the ED disclosed that it had provisionally attached the under-construction hotel and leasehold rights for four acres of land in the “Colombo 1” area of Sri Lanka. Additionally, land rights for approximately 2.82 acres associated with Vicinity Hotels Pvt. Ltd., under Good Earth Business Park Pvt. Ltd., located in Sector-66, Gurugram, have also been attached, as reported by the Press Trust of India.
The money laundering case originates from First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police and Gurugram Police against Amit Katyal and his associates.
The complaints allege that Krrish Realtech Pvt. Ltd. “defrauded” numerous investors and “illegally” transferred hundreds of crores of rupees abroad through what has been described as a “coordinated scheme of cheating, deception, and fraud.”
According to the ED, Krrish Realtech Pvt. Ltd. launched a project to provide residential plots in Gurugram. However, more than 13 years later, no plots have been allocated to buyers, despite the company collecting Indian Rupees 503 crore from them.
The agency further alleged, “Amit Katyal willingly siphoned off funds collected from various plot buyers and investors to a Sri Lankan company named The One Transworks Square (Pvt) Ltd. (formerly Krrish Transworks Colombo Pvt. Ltd.), which was developing a luxury real estate project in Sri Lanka.”
