ED raids 35 premises in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Nagpur in connection with ₹20,000 crore bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday searched about 35 premises in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Nagpur as part of a money laundering probe against a company and its promoters accused of perpetrating an alleged bank loan fraud of more than ₹20,000 crore, PTI reported, citing official sources.

“The raids are being carried out on the Amtek Group and its directors, including Arvind Dham, Gautam Malhotra and others. About 35 business and residential premises in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai and Nagpur have been raided since this morning,” the sources said.

The probe stems from a CBI FIR against a group entity of Amtek-- ACIL Limited-- on allegations of a bank fraud of more than ₹20,000 crore in some listed companies, which were finally taken over in NCLT proceedings at a nominal price, leaving the consortium of banks with nominal recovery, they said.

“The Supreme Court too had sought an ED probe,” the sources said.

As per the ED, this led to a loss of about ₹10,000- ₹15,000 crore to the exchequer, the sources told PTI.

The ED believes that loan funds were "siphoned off" to invest in real estate, foreign investments, and new ventures.

PTI reported, citing sources, that bogus sales, capital assets, debtors, and profit were shown in the group's concerns to get more loans so that it doesn't get tagged as a non-performing asset (NPA).

It is alleged that the shares of listed companies were manipulated and “rigged” and their financial statements were “window-dressed” to secure larger loans through collusion involving auditors and professionals.

The ED discovered that assets worth thousands of crores were purportedly transferred to shell companies.

Additionally, numerous foreign assets were allegedly established, and funds are purportedly still concealed under new identities using benami directors and shareholders.

(With inputs from PTI)