Amrapali Home-buyers’ Funds Scam: ED Seizes Sureka Group's ₹99.26 Crore Properties

Moneylife Digital Team 06 January 2026

Economy & Nation

The Lucknow zonal office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth ₹99.26 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with its ongoing investigation into the Amrapali group.

The attached assets include the office premises as well as factory land and building of Mauria Udyog Ltd, an entity belonging to the Sureka group. The promoters of the company are Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka. ED says the aggregate fair market value of the attached properties stood at ₹99.26 crore as of 30 December 2016.

The money laundering probe was initiated following multiple first information reports (FIRs) registered at various police stations in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, and by economic offences wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police. The investigation was also triggered pursuant to an order dated 23 July 2019, passed by the Supreme Court in Bikram Chatterji & Ors vs Union of India & Ors, on petitions filed by aggrieved home-buyers.

According to ED, the Amrapali group allegedly collected large sums of money from homebuyers but failed to hand over possession of flats within the stipulated timelines. The funds were allegedly diverted and misappropriated through a criminal conspiracy involving bogus transactions, forgery and cheating, leaving thousands of buyers stranded without homes.

The agency’s investigation revealed that key accused Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar, directors of the Amrapali group acted in connivance with Navneet Sureka and Akhil Sureka, directors of Mauria Udyog and Jotindra Steel & Tubes Ltd. ED alleged that homebuyers’ funds were siphoned off through non-genuine and fraudulent transactions under the guise of procuring TMT bars and other construction materials.

“These funds were layered through a complex web of shell entities and bogus suppliers, substantially withdrawn in cash and irreversibly dissipated, thereby generating and laundering the Proceeds of Crime,” the agency says in its statement.

ED has established that ₹110.39 crore, representing proceeds of crime generated from money collected from Amrapali home-buyers, was diverted to Mauria Udyog. As the original proceeds of crime were no longer available for direct attachment, having been dissipated, the agency invoked the principle of 'value thereof' under the PMLA to attach the immovable properties of equivalent value.

The attachment has been carried out under Section 5(1) of the PMLA, which empowers ED to provisionally seize assets believed to be involved in money laundering to prevent their concealment or transfer.

During the investigation, ED has already arrested several key individuals linked to the group, including Anil Sharma, Shiv Priya, and Ajay Kumar, all of whom are directors of the Amrapali group. The agency has also arrested Anil Mittal, the statutory auditor of the group, and Chander Prakash Wadhwa, its chief financial officer (CFO).

So far, six prosecution complaints have been filed before the special PMLA court in the case, with 33 individuals and entities named as accused. With the latest attachment, the ED has now issued six provisional attachment orders in the Amrapali matter, covering assets with a cumulative value of ₹303.08 crore.

The agency says further investigation into the case is ongoing, indicating that more action could follow as it continues to trace and secure assets linked to the alleged laundering of home-buyers’ funds.

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