New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs 305.84 crore of the popular jewellery chain Joyalukkas on Friday, days after five of the company’s premises were raided by the probe agency. The ED has accused the jewellery chain of violating provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
The case relates to a huge amount of cash transferred to Dubai from India through Hawala channels and subsequently invested in Joyalukkas Jewellery LLC, Dubai which is 100 per cent owned by Joy Alukkas Verghese. On Tuesday, the company had withdrawn its Rs 2,300 crore initial public offering or IPO saying it needed more time to incorporate substantial changes to its financial results.
The attached assets include 33 immovable properties valued at Rs 81.54 crore consisting of land and a residential building in Shobha City, Thrissur. Three bank accounts valued at Rs 91.22 lakh, three fixed deposits amounting to Rs 5.58 crore and Joyalukkas shares worth 217.81 crores have also been seized by the Enforcement Directorate.
The company had plans to refile its IPO documents “at the earliest, subject to market conditions,” Chief Executive Baby George told Reuters on Tuesday, without elaborating further.
The jewellery retailer, which focuses mainly on Southern India, is the latest to delay or pull its IPO plans amid market volatility and stubbornly high inflation. The company operates showrooms across roughly 68 cities.
