Bengaluru, Mar 5 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets valued at Rs 79.70 lakh of income-tax official Abhishek Tripathi and his family on charges of money laundering, an official said on Thursday.

"Order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach three properties valued at Rs 79.70 of Tripathi located at Lakhimpur-Kheri in Uttar Pradesh," said the official in a statement here.

The law enforcement agency had initiated the money laundering investigation against Tripathi on a charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Bengaluru in 2016 for acquiring assets disproportionate to his income.

"Investigation revealed that Tripathi misused his official position to make suspicious transactions and acquired assets in his name from December 29, 2008 to April 4, 2016," said the statement.

The latest attachment order comes nearly a week after the ED on February 27 attached assets valued at Rs 84.40 crore of Bengaluru-based Kanva business group director N. Nanjundaiah and his family in another money laundering case for allegedly duping about 13,000 depositors.

"Investigation was initiated on a complaint from the Registrar Cooperative Societies that the Kanva group collected Rs 650 crore deposits from citizens, assuring high interest rate without maintaining required liquidity," the official recalled.

Assets of Sree Kanva Souhardha Cooperative Credit Ltd founder-director S. Harish were also attached in the same case.

The assets, including agriculture lands, buildings, flats and factories of Nanjundaiah and Harish, are located at Nelamangala, Koratagere, Chikkabalapura, Srirangapatna and Bengaluru in Karnataka and at Madakasira in Andhra Pradesh.

"Nanjundaiah is in jail since his arrest on August 25, 2020," said the official.