The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out extensive searches at 35 locations across Delhi-NCR and Maharashtra as part of an investigation into a significant bank fraud case involving the Amtek Group. This was in relation to a bank fraud case involving over Rs 20,000 crores in multiple listed companies that were ultimately taken over in an NCLT proceeding at a nominal price, leaving a consortium of banks with a nominal recovery. These companies were ultimately acquired through National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) proceedings at minimal prices, resulting in a negligible recovery for the consortium of banks involved.
ED Raids Amtek Group locations nationwide
The ED's zonal office in Gurugram is spearheading these raids, which span across various locations including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, and Nagpur. The operations are being conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The key individuals under investigation are Arvind Dham, Gautam Malhotra, and other associates linked to the Amtek Group. These coordinated raids are part of the ED’s broader efforts to uncover and address financial irregularities and money laundering activities associated with the Amtek Group.
What ED said on the matter?
The probe seeks to bring to light the full extent of the alleged financial misconduct and to ensure accountability for the substantial losses incurred by the banking consortium. "It is alleged that listed companies' shares were rigged. A thousand crores of assets have been parked in shell companies' names. Some foreign assets have been created and money is still parked under the new names," said the ED.
ED probe based on FIR by CBI
The alleged fraud led to huge loss to exchequer money of approximately Rs 10-15k crores, said the ED. The ED investigation started based on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) First Information Report (FIR) in one of the group entities ACIL Limited and as per Supreme Court directions to investigate the fraud. Further, ED said its investigation revealed that loan funds were siphoned off to invest in real estate, foreign investment and investment in new ventures. As per the agency, fictitious sales, capital assets, debtors and profit were shown in group concerns to get more loans so that it does not get NPA.
(With inputs from ANI)
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