New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 116 crore of some alleged defaulters linked to the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation.

A provisional order was issued on March 31 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach 15 immovable properties located in Mumbai, Delhi and some cities of Rajasthan, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The assets belong to various "defaulters" of NSEL like Mohan India Group, Vimladevi Agrotech Ltd., Yathuri Associates and Lotus Refineries, it said.

These properties are worth Rs 115.86 crore, the ED said.

The accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to "defraud" the investors, induced them to trade on the platform of NSEL, created "forged" documents like "bogus" warehouse receipts, "falsified" the accounts and thereby committed criminal breach of trust and cheated investors to the tune of Rs 5,600 crore.

Genuine investors were defrauded of their investments by way of "serious" misappropriation, which is apparent from the fact that NSEL allowed trading of commodities by sellers without ensuring that goods of appropriate quantity and quality were stored in the exchange-controlled warehouses, resulting in thousands of investors trading in non-existent goods, it said.

It was also gathered that the monies collected from various investors were "diverted" by trading members (defaulters) of NSEL for other activities like investment into real estate, repayment of outstanding debts and other activities.

The ED, till now, has attached total assets worth Rs 3,433 crore till now as part of this probe and has filed seven charge sheets against various defaulters and broking entities.

The agency, along with the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai police, had registered a criminal case in 2013 under the PMLA to probe the NSEL and others associated with it.

The agency had alleged that the accused persons in the said case hatched a criminal conspiracy to defraud investors, induced them to trade on the platform of NSEL, created forged documents like bogus warehouse receipts, falsified accounts and thereby committed criminal breach of trust against about 13,000 investors to the tune of Rs 5,600 crore. PTI NES ZMN

Asset attachment under PMLA targets alleged NSEL defaulter properties amid ongoing money laundering probe and charges. A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act provisionally attaches 15 immovable properties of alleged NSEL defaulters on the basis that proceeds from an alleged conspiracy to defraud investors-involving forged warehouse receipts, falsified accounts and trading in non existent goods-were diverted into real estate and other activities; the action is part of a broader PMLA probe that has yielded prior attachments and multiple charge sheets.