Jalandhar, December 15, 2025 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 79.93 crore belonging to a Punjab-based company, Malbros International Pvt Ltd, in connection with a money laundering investigation related to environmental crimes. The seized properties include land, buildings, and plant machinery.
The ED initiated the investigation based on a criminal complaint filed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) against Malbros International for violating the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The company is accused of injecting untreated wastewater into deep aquifers through reverse boring.
According to the ED, Malbros International, which has an industrial unit in Mansoorwal village, Ferozepur district, generated and acquired illicit funds by deliberately polluting groundwater. The company allegedly injected untreated effluents into deep aquifers through reverse boring and repeatedly discharged wastewater onto land, drains, and an adjacent sugar mill.
The ED asserts that the company's daily operations involved the illegal discharge of untreated effluents into land and groundwater, causing large-scale, irreparable ecological damage. This pollution has led to water contamination, health hazards, crop loss, cattle deaths, and serious health impacts for residents in surrounding villages. The investigation revealed that the company was deliberately causing pollution of groundwater by persistently and covertly injecting untreated effluents into deep aquifers through reverse boring.
Prior to this seizure, on July 16, 2024, the ED conducted searches at six locations and seized Rs 78.15 lakh in cash from the premises of Malbros International and its directors under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The Punjab Pollution Control Board filed a criminal complaint against the company for violating the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The ED investigation revealed that Malbros International was involved in generating and acquiring proceeds of crime by deliberately polluting groundwater through the injection of untreated effluents into deep aquifers. The company also faces accusations of repeatedly discharging wastewater onto land, drains, and a nearby sugar mill, leading to significant ecological damage and health risks for local residents.
In a separate case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Shimla, conducted search operations at eight premises located in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab on Saturday in connection with an ongoing investigation into a large-scale fake/fictitious cryptocurrency-based Ponzi/Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam.
