ED Seizes Rs 4.3 Crore in Raids on Jewellers in Rs 645-Crore Bank Fraud Probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has seized Rs 4.30 crore in cash and frozen bank balances worth around Rs 22 crore belonging to jewellers and their associates, following searches at 14 premises across Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula in its money-laundering probe into the alleged embezzlement of Rs 645 crore in public funds.

The searches, conducted by the ED's Chandigarh Zonal Office-II under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, targeted prominent jewellery houses in the tri-city, including Malik Jewellers, KLG Jewels and its associate entities, M.B. Gold Traders, Sham Jewellers and Sunder Jewellers, besides Gourav Kansal, whom officials have identified as an alleged middleman in routing and layering the proceeds of crime.

How the money allegedly moved

According to the ED, the embezzled public funds were routed and layered through the bank accounts of various jewellers and projected as ordinary business transactions. These transactions were allegedly carried out in connivance with the accused to conceal the proceeds of crime and project them as legitimate funds.

The agency said its investigation revealed that the jewellers received large sums from intermediate shell entities purportedly floated by Ribhav Rishi, described by the ED as the mastermind of the case. The alleged receipts include Rs 58 crore for Malik Jewellers, Rs 26 crore for the KLG Group, Rs 5 crore for M.B. Gold Traders, Rs 3.66 crore for Sham Jewellers and Rs 3.15 crore for Sunder Jewellers, all routed through those shell companies.

The laundered money, the ED said, reached accused IAS officers and other government servants involved in the IDFC First Bank fraud. In this connection, the Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a third chargesheet before the Special Court in Panchkula, naming five Haryana-cadre IAS officers, a retired IAS officer and other government servants.

Case traces back to a February FIR

The ED investigation was launched on the basis of an FIR registered by the Haryana Police in February 2026 concerning discrepancies in the balances of bank accounts of the Haryana Development and Panchayat Department maintained with IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank. The accounts, linked to the Haryana government, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and other government bodies, are alleged to have been siphoned off to the tune of Rs 645 crore.

Earlier in the same investigation, the ED had arrested four accused persons for their alleged role in the money-laundering offence, and has so far attached, seized or frozen movable and immovable assets worth around Rs 211 crore. The agency has also filed a prosecution complaint against 14 accused before the Special Court (PMLA) in Panchkula. Further investigation is in progress, the agency said.