Mumbai:
Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized Rs 29 lakh in cash, froze bank lockers and mutual fund investments during last week’s search it conducted at 10 premises in Thane, Baramati and Nashik after registering a money-laundering case against an alleged racket involving illegal stimulation, extraction and sale of human eggs through unauthorised IVF and ART centres. Searched premises included hospitals and IVF centres.
The network involved in the illegal practices allegedly recruited financially vulnerable women through donor-supply agencies and offered them Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 for eggs.
ED said that the women were allegedly sent to various establishments in
Maharashtra and other states for human egg retrieval, thereby exposing them to potential medical risks. ED also identified new donor agents during the investigation and is investigating them.
