Gulf investor who signed MoU with J&K Govt summoned by ED in Kerala scam

Srinagar: In a significant development, having a potential of negative impact on the government’s ambitious plan of revival of trade and industry in Jammu and Kashmir, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the promoter of the famed LuLu Group, MA Yusuf Ali, for questioning for his alleged involvement in a major financial scandal in Kerala.
On 5 January 2022, MA Yusuf Ali was among the key Gulf-based investors and corporate groups who had signed different Memoranda of Understanding for establishing high scale businesses in Jammu and Kashmir. The MoUs were signed in Dubai with the top functionaries of the Union Territory Government in presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. Yusuf Ali’s Lulu Group planned to set up a big food processing and logistics hub in Emaar Group’s mall which was touted to become J&K’s largest business hub and supermarket.
Being in the UAE, Yusuf Ali, who is originally a resident of Kerala, has failed to appear before the ED on 1 March. Consequently, the ED has on 14 March issued fresh summons asking Yusuf Ali to appear for questioning in connection with a money laundering case on March 16 at its Kochi office.
The ED had earlier arrested Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s former principal secretary M Shivashankar in the Life Mission scam case on February 15, 2023. The case involves alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulations) Act (FCRA) in the project, which intended to provide homes to the poor who lost their houses in the floods of 2018. The Life Mission Project, which provides houses to the landless and the homeless, is one of the flagship projects of the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a case in 2020 in a Kochi court under Section 120-B of the IPC and Section 35 of the FCRA on a complaint by the then Wadakkanchery Congress MLA, Anil Akkara, listing Santosh Eappen as the first accused and Sane Ventures as the second accused.
In his complaint, Akkara alleged that a commission was given for giving the tender for the Life Mission housing project in Wadakkanchery to a particular company. The Life Mission scam case surfaced after the gold smuggling case came to light in June 2020, in which Shivashankar was jailed.
Two of the UAE Consulate officials, namely Swapna Suresh and Sarith, were later found to have played a role in misappropriation of Life Mission funds. The state government then approached the Kerala High Court to stop the probe. However, it dismissed the pleas and said that an ongoing CBI probe should continue in the case involving senior government officers and contractors.
A delegation of Lulu Group led by A V Ananth, Director- Oman, India and Srilanka, Rejith Radhakrishnan comprising Regional Director, Zulfikar Kadavath, Head of Procurement and Najmuddin, Director-India visited Jammu in October 2019 to discuss investment opportunities especially in Agro and food processing with Department of Industries & Commerce.
The meeting was attended by Ravinder Kumar, then MD, JKTPO/SIDCO and Anoo Malhotra, then Director, Industries & Commerce, Pawan Singh Rathore Director Agriculture Jammu, Altaf Andrabi, then Director Agriculture Kashmir, Shafat Sultan MD JK HPMC, senior officials of J&K Government and representatives of business houses and trade associations.
The meeting was also attended by various members of business and trade associations like PMark, Kanwal Spices, Herb Heaven, Fruit Master, Shalimar Carpets.
AV Ananth gave a formal introduction of the visiting team and the lulu group, which is a global giant in retailing with annual turnover of USD 8.5 billion. More than 55,000 employees with 80% Indians spread across 180 hyper markets are serving 1.6 million customers on a daily basis, he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on late Wednesday night signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with hypermarket and retail giant LuLu Group to set up a food processing and logistics hub in Srinagar.
In January 2022, LG Manoj Sinha led a delegation of senior government officers, bureaucrats and J&K businessmen to the UAE where MOUs were signed for the first tranche of the foreign investment which eventually touched the mark of Rs 60,000 crore. The MOU with Lulu Group was signed in Dubai on 5 January 2022 between Lulu Group’s Ashraf Ali MA, executive director, Ashraf Ali MA and the J&K Government’s principal secretary, Industries & Commerce, Ranjan Prakash Thakur.
“Trade between Jammu & Kashmir and Dubai has remained steady, despite Covid-19 challenges and it reflects the resilience of our deep economic linkages. The MoU will further expand Jammu Kashmir-Dubai collaboration and Jammu Kashmir-Lulu Group partnership,” LG Sinha said on the occasion. It was claimed that the MoU with the LuLu Group would help the UT to reach out to shoppers at 190 LuLu Hypermarkets across the GCC and Egypt.
However, there has been no substantial progress either on the proposed construction of Emaar Group’s largest shopping mall or the Lulu Group’s business venture in the last one year. Even the land acquisition process has not been completed.



Updated On 3/16/2023 1:10:30 AM