ED Attaches Rs 486-Crore Delhi Bungalow in Bank 'Fraud' Case

The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached a mansion worth Rs 486 crore, located on Amrita Shergill Marg -- one of Delhi's costliest neighbourhoods -- in an alleged bank fraud-linked money laundering case against the erstwhile Bhushan Power and Steel and its promoters.

The about an acre (4, 840 square yards) size residential dwelling in central Delhi has been provisionally frozen after the agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It is owned by Aarti Singal, a former director of BPSL and the wife of the main promoter Sanjay Singal, the federal agency said in a statement.

BPSL has undergone insolvency and has now been taken over by JSW Steel. Sanjay Singal was arrested by the ED in November 2019. A trial against him and the other accused in the case is pending.

The agency has earlier too attached assets in this case and with this latest order, the total value of freezed properties in this case stands at Rs 4,938 crore. Out of this, assets of Rs 4,025 crore worth have been restituted to the banks under the PMLA.

The money laundering case against the company and its promoters stems from a CBI FIR alleging that the former owners "cheated" banks to the tune of Rs 47,204 crore.

According to the ED, BPSL and its promoters "diverted" bank funds to private investments in the form of shares and properties.

"The books of accounts were fudged to show fake expenses, purchases, capital assets and bank funds were taken out in the form of cash. Cash was also generated from out-of-book sales and the same was utilised for acquiring assets in the name of family members," it claimed.

The cash, the agency added, was brought into the books of various beneficially owned 'benami" companies (held through employees and dummy directors) and the same was utilised for investments in the form of shares and immovable properties.

"The bank funds were dissipated towards acquisition of private assets and held in such a way that the banks should not be able to recover the loan amounts," it alleged.