Koneru Pradeep Vs Deputy Director (Appellate Tribunal Under SAFEMA Delhi)
Property Acquired Before Scheduled Offence Can Be Attached If Later Premiums Were Paid From Proceeds of Crime: SAFEMA Appellate Tribunal Upholds Attachment of Overseas Insurance Policy
The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA, New Delhi, upheld the attachment of an overseas insurance policy belonging to Koneru Pradeep in connection with the Emaar land scam money-laundering case. The policy, carrying a maturity value of USD 2,50,000 and an approximate surrender value of USD 1,20,000, had been purchased in 1998, whereas the alleged scheduled offences occurred mainly between 2005 and 2010.
The appellant contended that the policy pre-dated the alleged offence by nearly a decade, that properties equivalent to the entire identified proceeds of crime of ₹167.28 crore had already been attached and that he was not an accused in the predicate offence. He also argued that the proceedings against his brother, who paid the policy premiums, had been quashed.
The Tribunal rejected these contentions. It found that premiums on the policy continued to be paid until 2014 by the appellant’s brother through offshore entities into which the alleged proceeds of crime had been layered and intermingled. Therefore, the fact that the policy was originally acquired before the scheduled offence did not render its attachment illegal. Money laundering was treated as a continuing activity, extending to the subsequent use and integration of tainted funds into apparently legitimate assets.
The Tribunal further held that:
