Amtek group loan fraud: ED attaches farmhouse, industrial lands, other assets worth over ₹5,000 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday, said that assets worth more than ₹5,000 crore have been attached under the anti-money laundering case in an alleged bank loan fraud case against Amtek Group and others. The insolvent automotive equipment manufacturing company is under investigation in an alleged bank “fraud” case worth ₹27,000 crore.

In a fresh development in the bank fraud case, the ED has attached farmhouses, hundreds of acres of agricultural and industrial lands across states, and shares and debentures in the case against Amtek group, reported PTI, citing the law enforcement agency on Saturday.

In July, the federal agency had arrested Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham. The ED investigation revealed that the loan funds borrowed by the group were siphoned off and were invested in new ventures, real estate and foreign investments.

In February, the Supreme Court issued a directive to the agencies to probe the case. Following the apex court's intervention, the ED began its probe based on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. The ED booked a case under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Amtek group ‘illegally diverted’ bank loans worth ₹27,000 crore

IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra are among the key lenders which have been exposed to Amtek Group loan fraud. The two banks earlier had filed a CBI complaint against the accused for “illegally diverting” bank loans, the ED said in a statement. According to a previous Mint report, 19 banks had major exposure to the Amtek group. The consortium included IDBI Bank, State Bank of India, Canara Bank, ICICI Bank, etc.

Several subsidiaries of Amtek group like Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL limited, Metalyst Forging Limited and Castex Technologies Limited along with other were taken to insolvency, whose resolution had led to "huge haircut" of more than 80 per cent for the banks causing "substantial" losses to these public sector banks, it claimed.

Amtek group used complex web of shell companies to create bogus assets

The ED probe also found the group responsible for "deceitfully manipulating" company financial statements to obtain additional fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments in the books of accounts, reported new agency PTI.

The ED search to multiple locations revealed a complex web of more than 500 shell companies which were deployed to hold and invest in high value real estate and luxury properties, whose shareholdings were concealed in a "highly complex shareholding structure", it said.

"These shell companies were holding assets, whose beneficial ownership has been revealed to be with Arvind Dham, the main promoter and beneficial owner of the Amtek group of companies and he was was found to be alienating or transferring these assets," it said.

(With inputs from PTI)