ED attaches house in Texas in Rs 376 cr bank 'fraud' case

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth about Rs 112.90 crore, including a residential property in Texas, the US, in an alleged money-laundering case linked to bank loan fraud against a Noida-based air-conditioner components manufacturer and its promoters. The house in Texas is jointly owned by LEEL Electricals Limited's main promoter Bharat Raj Punj and his wife Pooja Punj, an official statement said on Tuesday. According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the provisional attachment also includes industrial plots and residential assets in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The attachment of 22 movable and immovable properties was done under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it said. According to the agency, the assets were “beneficially owned and controlled by the promoter family, held in their own names and through related/shell entities to conceal the proceeds of crime”. The ED initiated the probe based on a CBI FIR alleging that the company's promoters and senior officials cheated a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India by submitting false and manipulated financial statements. “The FIR and the subsequent chargesheet filed by the CBI revealed that the promoters and key managerial personnel of the company entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) by submitting false and manipulated financial statements, thereby causing a wrongful loss of about Rs 376 crore to the SBI and IDBI Bank,” it said. The investigation under the PMLA revealed that the accused allegedly siphoned off bank funds by manipulating the company's financial records. “The company's books of accounts were falsified by inflating the value of assets, inventories and receivables to present a misleading financial position and continue availing bank credit facilities,” the agency said. The ED alleged that the diverted funds were routed through a network of promoter-controlled and related companies in India and transferred to several overseas subsidiaries under the guise of investments and loans. “A significant portion of these funds could not be recovered, indicating that the overseas entities were used to divert and conceal the proceeds of crime,” it said. The agency also alleged that in the final stage of the scheme, the diverted funds were converted into immovable properties held in the names of related companies and promoter family members, several of which were later sold, with the proceeds allegedly used for personal and operational expenses of the promoter family. “The investigation revealed that a substantial portion of the diverted funds was routed outside India through the overseas subsidiary structure. Accordingly, the residential property in Texas, USA, has been attached, representing the proceeds of crime held outside India,” the ED said. PTI MHS NES ARI