Orissa High Court rejects the bail petition filed on behalf of Mohammad Arif under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).
Facts of the Case
The petitioner, Mohammad Arif, was an Addn. Director of the company Fine Indisales Private Limited (FIPL). Niranjan Sahoo had lodged a complaint alleging that he had been cheated and defrauded to invest Rs. 10,000 in the investment Scheme of FIPL. Mohammad Arif also involved 20 other persons to invest in the scheme. The investors neither received the said financial product nor the voucher as per the agreement with FIPL. The company collected a lot of money from the public by giving false assurance of high returns. The Court directed to handover the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Petitioner’s Submission
Mohammad Arif submitted a bail petition under PMLA on 19th December 2019 and an interim bail application on 23rd December 2019. The Court rejected both the bail applications.
Respondent’s Submission
The respondent stated that the involvement of the petitioner in the “money trail” and the offense of “money laundering is very clear”. He had transferred Rs 25 crores for the production of a movie channel named ‘Lemon TV’ to cover up the money laundering.
Court’s Order
Orissa High Court rejected the bail application filed by the petitioner under Sec. 439 of CrPc (Special power of High Court or Session Court regarding bail). The petitioner took the ground of the ill health of his mother and as in the instant case, the ill health of his wife for his bail application. The offense of Money Laundering is nothing but an act of financial terrorism that is a serious threat to the financial system and the integrity and sovereignty of a nation. We must also not forget that money laundering is a cognizable and non-bailable offense.
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