Mumbai, Jul 2 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a prominent Navi Mumbai builder in a case pertaining to money laundering of Rs 50 crore, officials said here on Friday.

Monarch Universal Group's Director Gopal Amarlal Thakur was nabbed on Thursday and produced before a Special PMLA Court which sent him to ED custody till July 8.

The ED probe came after the Maharashtra Police had lodged a case criminal against Thakur and the MUG for allegedly cheating and duping flat buyers.

As per the investigations, the builder collected the money from the flat buyers but did not register the same in their names even though a long time had elapsed.

Later, it transpired that the company had sold the same flats to multiple buyers without their knowledge.

It also emerged that the company mortgaged these flats and availed loans from a NBFC without the knowledge of the original flat buyers, after which the MUG diverted and siphoned off the funds from the project to various other persons/entities.

A probe is underway to track the funds trail and the proceeds of the crime besides the involvement of others in the scam.

The MUG - run by Thakur, his brother Hasmukh and others - has been engaged in several building construction projects in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, and facing several other cases and litigation pertaining to alleged cheating and fraudulent practices against flat buyers, including some NRIs.