The Ahmedabad Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized two Mercedes cars and frozen 37 bank accounts holding a combined balance of Rs 33.67 crore. The action was part of search operations conducted in connection with a bank fraud case involving Electrotherm India Limited and others.
The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on January 10 and 11 in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the central agency confirmed in a statement released on Thursday.
The ED’s investigation stems from a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bank Securities and Fraud Branch (BS&FB), Mumbai. The FIR was initiated based on a complaint lodged by the Bank of India, which reported a wrongful loss of Rs 631.97 crore caused by Electrotherm India Limited.
The investigation under PMLA revealed that the total proceeds of the crime amounted to Rs 81.97 crore as of June 30, 2014.
The investigation is focused on Electrotherm India Limited and its directors, including Mukesh Bhandari and Shailesh Bhandari, who are also under scrutiny in two other bank fraud cases related to the company and its subsidiaries.
In one of these cases, Electrotherm India Limited allegedly secured various loans from the Central Bank of India and failed to repay Rs 388.23 crore. The ED had earlier attached assets worth Rs 179 crore in this case and filed a prosecution complaint in the trial court.
“Further investigation in the matter is underway,” the ED stated.
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