The Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed on Friday that it attached assets worth more than ₹305 crore of Joy Alukkas Verghese, the owner of Joyalukkas, a prominent jewelry business group based in Kerala. The action was linked to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case which involves “huge cash" transfers to Dubai by the company through hawala channels.

The seizure of assets comes after the central agency carried out searches at multiple locations of the Thrissur-headquartered group on 22 February.

"The attached assets include 33 immovable properties (valued at ₹81.54 crore) consisting of a land and residential building in Shobha City, Thrissur, three bank accounts (having deposits of ₹91.22 lakh), three fixed deposits worth ₹5.58 crore and shares of Joyalukkas India Pvt Ltd (valued at ₹217.81 crore)," the ED said in a statement.

Furthermore, the statement added that the amount of total assets attached under FEMA stands at ₹305.84 crore.

ED said that the case involves a "huge amount of cash transferred to Dubai from India through hawala (illegal money transfer) channels and subsequently invested in Joyalukkas Jewellery LLC, Dubai which is a 100 percent owned company of Joy Alukkas Verghese."

The agency has pointed out that the official documents and mail, they found as evidence in their searches "clearly proved" the link between Joy Alukkas and hawala transactions. ED alleged that Verghese is the "beneficial owner" of the funds invested in Joyalukkas Jewellery LLC, Dubai. 

The development comes days after Joyalukkas withdrew its 23 billion rupees ($278 million) initial public offering (IPO). The company said that it needed more time to incorporate substantial changes to its financial results.

“We have shelved the IPO because of several small factors. We feel the market conditions are not that favourable. Besides, we have done better in the last one year and our numbers have improved. We also are in the process of shifting some offices in India,” Joy told Moneycontrol on February 22. “We can’t comment on the IPO amount now. We would like it to happen in FY24,” he added.

The Chief Executive of the company Baby George told news agency Reuters that it plans to refile its IPO documents "at the earliest, subject to market conditions."

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