ED Raids Mumbai, Delhi Premises Linked to Mega Millennium Over Suspected Illegal Forex Receipts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has searched six premises, including offices and residential properties in Mumbai and Delhi, as well as a farmhouse in Maharashtra, in connection with the alleged illegal receipt of foreign exchange from Dubai and Singapore by Mega Millennium Private Limited, officials said on Friday.

The searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, according to an ED statement.

Investigators examined digital devices and documents suspected to be relevant to the probe into the company’s financial transactions. During the operation, the agency also searched a farmhouse in Karjat, Maharashtra.

The ED said foreign currency, Indian currency and valuables worth several crores of rupees were detected during the searches.

Mumbai-based director under scrutiny

The investigation is focused on Harish Dedhiya, a Mumbai-based consultant and director of Mega Millennium Private Limited, the agency said.

According to the ED, the company and its directors, including Dedhiya and his wife, Dhara Dedhiya, allegedly received substantial amounts of foreign exchange from suspicious entities based in Dubai and Singapore.

The agency’s investigation indicated that Dedhiya allegedly incorporated companies by appointing his employees or other individuals described as dummy directors.

Within a year of their incorporation, these companies allegedly received hundreds of crores of rupees, which were subsequently routed through multiple shell entities, the ED said.

The searches form part of the agency’s investigation into the suspected financial transactions and the movement of funds through the entities concerned.

Separate ED searches in alleged human egg extraction racket

In a separate case in Maharashtra, the ED conducted searches at 10 premises, including hospitals and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres, in Thane, Baramati and Nashik. The operation resulted in the seizure of digital evidence and ₹29 lakh in cash, according to the agency.

The ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-II carried out the searches on October 16 under the provisions of the PMLA.

The investigation was initiated on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) and a subsequent chargesheet filed by Badlapur (East) Police Station in Thane district.

The underlying case alleges cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, along with violations of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The allegations name Manjusha Wankhede and 16 others, the ED said.

Agency probes alleged donor recruitment network

According to the ED, the case concerns an alleged organised network that recruited financially vulnerable women for human egg donation and supplied donors to IVF centres and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) banks through agents operating under different proprietorship concerns.

The agency is examining the alleged network’s operations and the financial transactions associated with it.

Both investigations are ongoing. The allegations cited by the ED remain subject to investigation and legal proceedings.