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The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets valued at approximately ₹4 crore in an ongoing money laundering case concerning Aslam Abdul Rehman Patni and others, the agency announced on Thursday. Issued by the ED Mumbai Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the attachment order covers bank balances held by the accused as well as a prominent immovable property identified as Lambat Building. The federal financial probe stems from a First Information Report previously lodged at Dadar Police Station, which was later investigated by the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. The underlying police complaint details serious charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and the fraudulent use of fabricated documents to secure unlawful control over real estate.
Police FIR Exposes Forgery Scheme
Official findings establish that the accused orchestrated an intricate scheme to wrest ownership of Lambat Building away from its rightful titleholders. Investigators revealed that Shabbir Ahmed Hassan Karolia and Yusuf Ahmed Hassen Karolia, alongside other co-conspirators, engaged in deliberate impersonation of the original proprietors to initiate the takeover. The individuals fabricated false legal documentation, most notably a forged deed of conveyance, designed to give their illicit claims an outward appearance of formal validity. This fraudulent documentation formed the base upon which the syndicate engineered unlawful transactions, intentionally bypassing the legitimate heirs and laying the groundwork for an unlawful transfer of the disputed structure.
Coercion Linked to Underworld Figures
As the operation progressed, intimidation and coercion were directly brought to bear against the rightful stakeholders to complete the dispossession. ED officials established that in 2019, Aslam Abdul Rehman Patni acquired a 50 percent share in Lambat Building, which belonged to Yasmin Mohammed Ahmed and the late Sherzada Jangrez Khan. Rather than carrying out a standard commercial transaction, Patni allegedly forced the owners out by issuing threats invoking the names of the D-Company, fugitive figure Dawood Ibrahim, and Salim Iqbal Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, who is the brother-in-law of Chhota Shakeel. The original co-owners were evicted from their legal stake entirely without receiving any financial consideration or purchase value.
Laundering Assets Through Shell Transfers
Once physical control was severed from the authentic titleholders, Patni moved the property into the hands of Shazia Salim Iqbal Qureshi, the wife of Salim Fruit. The investigation determined that this transfer served to ensure the property remained securely within Salim Fruit’s immediate household. A chain of structured transactions was deliberately executed to project an impression of legitimate conveyance over an asset fundamentally procured through extortion and fear. Acting on these findings, the agency attached Lambat Building, currently registered under the name of Shazia Salim Iqbal Qureshi, alongside bank balances linked to Patni and fellow suspects, while continuing further inquiries into the laundering network.
