The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached a 14.51-acre land parcel in Kolkata valued at ₹85.20 crore, in connection with a bank fraud and money laundering case involving M/s Unity Infraprojects Ltd. (UIL) and associated entities. The attachment, executed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, brings the total value of assets attached or frozen in the case to approximately ₹1,609 crore.

The Attached Property

The land, located at Mouza Chakgaria in Kolkata, is registered in the name of M/s Suburban Agriculture Dairy & Fisheries Pvt. Ltd. (SADAFPL). According to the ED, SADAFPL is a step-down subsidiary of UIL, held through its wholly owned subsidiary Unity Realty & Developers Ltd. (URDL). Investigators established a financial trail linking the Chakgaria parcel directly to funds originating from UIL and its group entities, indicating deliberate diversion and layering of proceeds from scheduled offences.

The Alleged Bank Fraud

The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the CBI's Bank Securities & Fraud Branch in Mumbai, filed on a complaint by the State Bank of India. The FIR alleges that UIL, acting in connivance with its promoters, directors, and associated entities, defrauded a consortium of 23 banks by availing credit facilities of around ₹3,200 crore. Total outstanding dues, including interest, are estimated at approximately ₹3,800 crore. According to investigators, the fraud involved fictitious transactions, round-tripping of funds, manipulation of financial records, and diversion of money through shell entities.

How the Funds Were Routed

The ED's probe revealed that funds from UIL were channelled through URDL and subsequently deployed to acquire and hold assets via associated companies — a classic layering structure. The Chakgaria land attachment was made under Section 5(1) of the PMLA to prevent any transfer or disposal of the property pending confiscation proceedings. This type of multi-layered routing through subsidiaries and shell entities has become a recurring pattern in large infrastructure sector fraud cases investigated by the ED in recent years.

Earlier Actions in the Case

This is not the first enforcement action in the UIL matter. In July 2025, the ED conducted searches at residential and commercial premises, as well as bank lockers, linked to UIL, its former directors, and their family members. Those operations led to the seizure or freezing of movable assets worth ₹31.21 crore. Prior to the latest order, the agency had also attached land parcels and flats valued at approximately ₹1,493 crore through three separate provisional attachment orders, all of which were subsequently confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA.

Prosecution and Next Steps

The ED filed a prosecution complaint before the Designated Special Court, City Civil and Sessions Court, Greater Bombay, Mumbai, on 27 March 2026. With the Kolkata attachment now adding ₹85.20 crore to the tally, cumulative recoveries in the case have crossed the ₹1,600 crore mark. The agency has confirmed that further investigation is ongoing, signalling that additional assets linked to the alleged fraud network may yet be traced and attached.