Ahmedabad, Nov 27 (LatestNewsX) – On November 24, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) office in Ahmedabad filed a prosecution complaint before the Special PMLA Court sitting in Mirzapur. The complaint names Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Sagathiya and two other individuals, charging them with violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Sagathiya, a municipal officer in Rajkot, is alleged to have accumulated assets far beyond his income and to have laundered illegal proceeds for more than ten years. The enquiry began after an FIR was lodged by the ACB in Rajkot, which claimed that between 1 April 2012 and 31 May 2024 Sagathiya possessed assets amounting to ₹24.31 crore that were disproportionate to his lawful earnings.
The ED’s investigations revealed that Sagathiya channeled large quantities of illicit money into a range of movable and immovable properties. These funds were moved through several bank accounts registered under his own name, as well as those registered to his wife, Bhavnaben, and his son, Keyur. Among the evidence found were recurring deposit (RD) accounts opened at the Rajkot Head Post Office between February 2015 and June 2022 in the names of family members. Regular cash deposits flowed into these accounts, and when they were closed, the gained proceeds were used to acquire property, according to the ED.
On 29 April 2025 the ED attached assets worth ₹21.61 crore, including cash, gold, diamonds, silver jewellery, foreign currency, luxury watches and several real‑estate holdings. The agency stated that these items are directly linked to criminal proceeds and were part of a systematic laundering scheme operated by Sagathiya. Work is now in progress to follow the money flows further, to unravel any layering of funds, and to identify additional beneficiaries.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is India’s chief agency for tackling economic crimes, with a focus on money laundering and violations of foreign exchange regulations. Operating under the Ministry of Finance, the ED enforces two principal statutes: the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which targets the concealment of criminal proceeds, and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which governs international money transfers. The ED tracks illicit money trails, seizes assets obtained through criminal activity, files prosecution cases in special courts, and collaborates with national and international partners to suppress financial fraud, hawala schemes, and other economic offences that threaten India’s financial system.
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