Suumaya-Dentsu embezzlement case: ED raids 19 sites across Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids on Tuesday at 19 locations across Mumbai, Delhi, and Gurgaon as part of an ongoing investigation into the Suumaya-Dentsu money laundering case involving an alleged embezzlement of Rs 137 crore. The raids resulted in the seizure of movable assets, including Rs 46 lakh in cash, foreign currency worth Rs 4 lakh, and gold bars valued at Rs 3.4 crore, as reported by Indian Express.

The agency also confiscated key documents linked to property transactions, along with digital devices and other evidence during the raids.

The ED's money laundering investigation stems from a case initially filed by Worli Police Station in March 2022 against Dentsu Communications India, Suumaya Industries, and its promoters. They are accused of collaborating to divert Rs 137 crore under the pretext of offering benefits from a proposed 'Need to Feed' program.

The ED has stated, “Accused persons have not received any contract from the Government and there was no such program ever in existence either. Accused entities have in fact never supplied any Agro product materials for any such program. However, in order to create the false impression that it is supplying Agro products, the accused persons in this case connived and created fake records including fake lorry receipts and fake invoices.”

The ED's search operations uncovered that Suumaya group's listed entities were involved in transactions amounting to Rs 5,000 crore, with only 10% of these transactions being legitimate. The agency revealed that these transactions followed a circular pattern, inflating the turnover of the companies involved, including Dentsu India.

The ED has stated that investors in Suumaya group's listed entities were misled into believing in inflated transactions, resulting in significant surges in share prices. The agency added that these circular transactions contributed to the artificial increase in turnover for entities bidding on government contracts, startups seeking higher valuations, and others. 

The investigation revealed that this scheme was carried out in collaboration with stock brokers and merchant bankers, with cash payments made for commodity contracts on the NCDEX and the acquisition of companies that were later listed on the stock exchange.