The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said that it has attached land and other items worth over Rs 315 crore as part of an alleged bank fraud in connection with money laundering probe against a former NCP MP from Maharashtra, his family and businesses.
Ishwarlal Shankarlal Jain Lalwani (77), the former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is the promoter of the Rajmal Lakhichand Jewellers Pvt Ltd, R L Gold Pvt Ltd and Manraj Jewellers among others.
The agency said in a statement that it issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on Friday to attach 70 immovable assets located in various locations including Jalgaon, Mumbai, Thane, Sillod (in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra) and Kutch (Gujarat) besides windmills, silver and diamond jewellery, bullion and Indian currency worth Rs 315.60 crore in the bank fraud case of Rajmal Lakhichand Jewelers Pvt. Ltd., R L Gold Pvt. Ltd., and Manraj Jewellers Pvt. Ltd and others.
"The attached assets include the benami properties acquired by the promoters Ishwarlal Shankarlal Jain Lalwani, Manish Ishwarlal Jain Lalwani and others," the ED alleged.
CBI's FIRs
The CBI had registered three FIRs based on which the PMLA case came up. The FIRs alleged that the companies and their directors/promoters caused a wrongful loss of over Rs 352.49 crore to the State Bank of India.
The promoters submitted "fake" financials to avail such loans, the ED alleged.
"The promoters also engaged in round tripping of transactions to inflate the financials and booking bogus sale purchase transactions in books of accounts of the accused companies to siphon off the loan proceeds for investments in real estate properties, in collusion with the auditors of the companies," it said.
The ED conducted raids in this case in August this year and had claimed that various "discrepancies like bogus sale-purchase transactions being shown in the books of accounts with the main holding company, Rajmal Lakhichand Jalgaon partnership firm" were detected.
(With PTI inputs)
