The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth about Rs 85.19 crore in a case involving Dream Makers Global Private Limited and others.
The attachment was announced by the agency’s Chennai Zonal Office-II on 31 October 2026 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The ED investigation is based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing in Coimbatore. The FIR alleges offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1997, and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019.
According to the ED, Dream Makers Global Private Limited and its key managerial personnel collected large sums of money from thousands of depositors by presenting the investments as opportunities in software projects and packages. Investors were promised high daily returns and the doubling of their investments within 150 days. Returns were initially paid, but defaults later occurred, leaving many depositors with losses.
The agency’s investigation found that approximately Rs 400 crore was credited into three principal bank accounts of the company from investors and depositors. These funds were then routed through multiple bank accounts belonging to the company, its key managerial personnel, agents, franchisees and associated business entities. The movement involved inter-account transfers, cash withdrawals and payments to associates. The ED also found that funds were used to acquire immovable properties, vehicles, gold ornaments, cash and other assets. Heavy commissions were paid to agents, and key persons allegedly diverted money for personal benefit.
On 30 June 2026, the ED conducted searches and survey operations at residential and business premises connected with the company and associated persons and entities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Documents, electronic devices and other relevant records were seized. The agency has stated that further investigation is in progress.
The company was incorporated on 9 July 2013 in Coimbatore. Its Corporate Identification Number is U70100TZ2013PTC019658. Corporate records describe its registered address as Door No. 147, Sri Sai Complex, Flat No. 1, opposite Avila Convent, Velandipalayam, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and classify its business under real estate activities.
According to records placed before the National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai Bench, the company failed to file its statutory annual returns and balance sheets from the date of incorporation. It was struck off by the Registrar of Companies on 31 August 2018. The company’s former managing director later filed an application for restoration under Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013. The NCLT allowed the restoration on 1 August 2019, subject to payment of a Rs 20,000 penalty and other conditions, including an affidavit that no tainted money had been deposited in the company’s accounts during the demonetisation period.
Banking records examined in the NCLT proceedings show that Dream Makers Global maintained three current accounts with the State Bank of India. Between January and July 2018, these three accounts received credits of approximately Rs 703.22 crore and recorded withdrawals of approximately Rs 627.60 crore. A balance of about Rs 75.62 crore remained and was frozen by the bank. The State Bank of India had submitted a Suspicious Transaction Report to the Financial Intelligence Unit after observing large volumes of transactions that appeared to originate from members of the public in response to promises of high returns.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued directions to the Registrar of Companies on 24 September 2019. These included steps to prevent ordinary restoration of the company through the MCA portal, advice to the bank to continue freezing the three accounts, and action towards winding up of the company and appointment of an Official Liquidator.
On 9 October 2025, the NCLT, Chennai Bench, admitted a winding-up petition filed by the Registrar of Companies, Coimbatore, against Dream Makers Global Private Limited and others. The tribunal appointed an Official Liquidator. In a clarification order dated 7 January 2026, the NCLT directed that the Official Liquidator be treated as the Company Liquidator and ordered directors and officers to submit the company’s books of account, provide information to the liquidator and surrender company property, books, papers and assets in their possession. Publication of the winding-up proceedings in English and Tamil newspapers was also directed.
Earlier reporting and court records identify the company’s former managing director as S. Sathishkumar, also referred to as Selvaraj Sathishkumar. He and his wife, Arumugam Gunavathi, also known as S. Gunavathi, were associated with the company as directors and shareholders. Sathishkumar was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in 2019 in connection with the alleged investment fraud. Newspaper reports stated that he died by suicide in January 2023. The NCLT record confirms that his death was brought to the tribunal’s attention and that his name was deleted from the array of parties.
Gunavathi is identified in the NCLT order as an ex-director and shareholder. The Madras High Court judgment records her as one of the accused in the underlying criminal case.
Another person named in the records is Mugunthan Nair. The Madras High Court, in an order dated 15 April 2026 in the case of Mugunthan Nair versus the Inspector of Police, recorded that the prosecution material described him as having acted as a manager in practice, dealt with depositors and issued fixed-deposit receipts.
The judgment noted allegations that approximately Rs 5 crore had been received through transactions linked to his accounts. Mugunthan Nair had approached the High Court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him. The court declined to quash the case and held that disputed factual issues should be examined during trial. The petition was dismissed on 15 April 2026.
The same High Court judgment records that the police had filed a final report based on statements from 1,051 depositors. It also records the prosecution’s assertion that there were 1,30,759 depositors in total and that the alleged total cheating amount was approximately Rs 454 crore. The underlying criminal case is Crime No. 5 of 2019, pending as C.C. No. 16 of 2021 before the Special Court under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors Act at Coimbatore.
The original complaint in the case was lodged by an investor named Manojkumar. According to the High Court record, he invested Rs 4,80,000 on 30 May 2019 and Rs 2,40,000 on 24 June 2019. The promised daily returns stopped from 4 July 2019. The complaint was registered on 27 September 2019 against the company, Sathishkumar and Gunavathi under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 5 of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors Act and provisions of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019.
Earlier newspaper reports described the company’s investment packages as ranging from a minimum of Rs 6,000 to a maximum of Rs 9,60,000, offered in multiples of Rs 6,000, with daily income promised for 150 days. One report stated that Sathishkumar had announced 12 different schemes and promised Rs 100 per day for 150 days for every Rs 6,000 invested. The company was reported to have represented the money as being invested in online trading. The ED’s 2026 press release refers to the investments as software projects and packages.
The ED has stated that approximately Rs 400 crore was credited into three principal bank accounts of the company. The Madras High Court record refers to an alleged total cheating amount of Rs 454 crore involving 1,30,759 depositors. The NCLT record refers to Rs 703.22 crore in credits into the three State Bank of India accounts between January and July 2018. These figures relate to different periods, different accounting measures and different stages of proceedings.
The provisional attachment of assets valued at approximately Rs 85.19 crore is an enforcement action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A provisional attachment restricts dealings with the identified property subject to the law. It is not the same as final confiscation. The ED press release does not provide the complete schedule of the attached properties, their locations, registered owners, acquisition dates or valuation details.
The company remains under winding-up proceedings before the NCLT. The Company Liquidator has been directed to take control of books, records and assets. The Economic Offences Wing case continues before the Special Court in Coimbatore. The ED investigation is ongoing.
The case involves allegations of large-scale deposit collection from the public, movement of funds through multiple accounts, acquisition of assets and commissions paid to agents and franchisees. The Enforcement Directorate, the Economic Offences Wing, the Registrar of Companies, the National Company Law Tribunal and the Madras High Court have all dealt with different aspects of the matter over several years. Further investigation by the ED is stated to be in progress.
