A special PMLA court has taken cognisance of a prosecution complaint filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in a money laundering case over alleged bank frauds by a private aluminium firm.
The court for prosecuting cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 13 took cognisance of the complaint filed by the ED’s Mumbai zonal office on May 8 over the alleged bank frauds by Ess Dee Aluminium Limited, an official said on Thursday.
The ED filed the prosecution complaint against 14 accused associated with Ess Dee Aluminium, including the company’s chairman Sudip Dutta, Ashish Bhattacharya, Jayesh Shah, Hiren Shah and others.
“The ED started an investigation based on first information report (FIR) registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Special Task Branch (STB), Mumbai, against M/s Ess Dee Aluminium Ltd. (EDAL), its chairman Sudip Dutta and others following a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI) regarding bank fraud EDAL alleging criminal conspiracy and cheating, with accusations of misutilisation and diversion of funds, transactions with flagged entities, and criminal breach of trust, resulting in a wrongful loss of ₹338.52 crore to the SBI,” an ED official said.
The investigation revealed that Mr. Dutta and the management of EDAL had conspired to inflate the balance sheets of the company through fictitious sales and purchases facilitated by Jayesh Shah and Hiren Shah. This manipulation enabled the company to secure new loans from banks amounting to ₹195 crore and enhance existing facilities to ₹ 151.30 crore between the years 2012 and 2016. “The loan funds were used to maintain existing loan obligations and diverted for personal enrichment, including overseas investments,” the official added.
Previously, the ED had provisionally attached proceeds of crime amounting to ₹11.19 crore in the form of immovable properties, such as flats in Mumbai and Daman, under Section 5 of PMLA.
Further investigation in the case is under progress.
