high-value transactions

The family of Pune-based realtor D S Kulkarni of the DSK Group on Friday collected some documents and electronic gadgets from his office on JM Road and a bungalow on Senapati Bapat Road in Pune, in the presence of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials.

Kulkarni had sought permission from a court in Mumbai to take certain documents and electronic gadgets from his office and bungalow seized by the ED, as he required them for the court case against him.

As per the court’s order, ED officials opened the office and bungalow and allowed Kulkarni’s family to collect the materials. The ED officials then sealed the properties again. The officials video-recorded the entire procedure and also prepared a record of documents and other materials taken by Kulkarni’s family.

Since October 2017, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Pune City police has been probing the DSK Group for allegedly cheating around 35,000 depositors and investors to the tune of Rs 1,083 crore, siphoning of Rs 711 crore received in the form of loans, and Rs 111 crore accepted through debentures and a land deal in Fursungi involving embezzlement of Rs 184 crore.

The ED has also launched an investigation into the alleged money laundering case by the group as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In February 2019, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 904 crore of the DSK Group for allegedly defrauding small investors.

According to a statement then issued by the ED, Kulkarni, his wife Hemanti and their son and executive director of the DSK Group allegedly floated eight partnership firms in Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur to collect deposits from “gullible investors”.

The agency said between 2006 and 2017, the firms raised about Rs 1,129 crore from over 35,000 investors. The immovable properties attached by the ED include land, buildings, flats, insurance policies and cash deposits in bank accounts.

The ED statement said the three officials of the group, “layered and integrated” the funds received by the eight partnership firms “through various high-value sham transactions under cover of capital, advance against property and director’s loan between 40 group companies” of DSK to project it as “untainted money”.

The ED has alleged that the money was then laundered to four DSK firms in India and the US, as well as to the bank accounts of the Kulkarnis. The ED statement also said the laundered money was utilised to purchase properties in India and the US, to repay bank loans and to purchase high-value LIC policies for the Kulkarni family, among others.

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Do you pay rent through credit card? It may not be rewarding

MUMBAI: Are you paying rent via credit cards to earn more rewards points? It may no longer remain an attractive option as card issuers have started putting restrictions on such payments to prevent misuse.
ICICI Bank cardholders will have to pay a 1% fee on rent payments from October 20. SBI Card will levy a processing fee of Rs 99 (exclusive of taxes) on rent payments from November 15. HDFC Bank has limited reward points from rent payments at 500 points, while Yes Bank has limited such transactions to twice a month.

In the last couple of years, a slew of fintech companies and property management service startups have promoted services that allow customers to pay landlords using credit cards instead of traditional modes like cheque or netbanking. Some have also sweetened the offer with cashbacks. Card issuers have not provided reasons for levying fees or capping transactions. However, a banker on the condition of anonymity said that the restrictions are being put as these payments may not be bonafide. “People are using these services to transfer money to friends and family members instead of landlords as there is no verification of beneficiaries,” the banker said.
As rent payments are usually high-value transactions, a cardholder would not only earn more reward points, but also be able to meet annual spend milestones that often leads to waiving of a creditcard’s renewal fee.
“Banks charge a fee for cash withdrawal from credit cards. But now they are seeing that customers are virtually withdrawing cash through loopholes in rent payment services,” an industry player said.
Though the platforms that enable rent payments also charge a convenience fee, it still turns out to be cheaper than withdrawing cash from credit cards through ATMs, experts said. They added that if payments companies acquire landlords as merchants after doing KYC (know-your-customer), card issuers should not have a problem. Earlier, businesses like life insurance companies, which have high-value transactions, have been able to negotiate lower credit card fees (merchant discount rate).

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