The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached immovable properties, worth Rs 138 crore, belonging to Kanishk Gold Pvt Ltd (KGPL) and its Managing Director Bhoopesh Kumar Jain under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In a statement issued in Chennai, ED said the 14 immovable properties worth about Rs 138 crore belong to Kanishk Gold and its Managing Director Jain.
On April 24, the ED said it has frozen Rs 48 crore worth of properties belonging to Kanishk Gold Pvt Ltd under PMLA.
According to ED, a Provisional Attachment Order was issued April 24, attaching properties to the tune of Rs 143.58 crore, which were identified as proceeds of crime committed by Jain along with others, as the same are involved in money laundering.
The jewellery company is alleged to have indulged in offences of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy against a 14-member banking consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI).
The SBI has lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation and an FIR has been lodged.
It is alleged that Kanishk Gold secured credit facilities from banks after providing fudged stock statements with the help of chartered accountants.
The total loss caused to the banks due to the above fraud works out to the tune of Rs 824 crore, outstanding as on December 31, 2017, the ED said.
It is believed that the Directors of KGPL, Bhoopesh Kumar Jain and his wife Neeta Jain, may have fled the country.
The SBI, which tops the list with Rs 240 crore of loans, is followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB) (Rs 128 crore), Bank of India (Rs 46 crore), IDBI (Rs 49 crore), Syndicate Bank (Rs 54 crore), Union Bank (Rs 53 crore), Uco Bank (Rs 45 crore), Central Bank (Rs 22 crore), Corporation Bank (Rs 23 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 32 crore), Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank (Rs 27 crore), HDFC (Rs 27 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 27 crore) and Andhra Bank (Rs 32 crore).
Source: The News Minute