The Ahmedabad Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 19.37 crore of a local firm, M/s Hellios Tubealloys Pvt Ltd. (HTPL), in a bank fraud case on December 17.
The properties that were attached under provisions of PMLA include commercial lands in Rajula of Amreli district and a residential flat in Ahmedabad.
In a statement Wednesday, the ED said it had initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI office of ACB Gandhinagar, which, in turn, had been filed after a written complaint from the DGM of Ahmedabad Region of the Bank of Baroda.
The firm and its directors — Shantilal Sanghvi and Mahesh Sanghvi — had allegedly defrauded the bank to the tune of Rs 28.54 crore, as per the FIR. Later, the CBI filed the chargesheet dated December 28, 2021.
ED investigation revealed the firm was incorporated with the stated objective of trading of “stainless steel” such as sheets, coils, plates, fittings and manufacturing of different types of stainless-steel pipes and tubes, said officials. The company was said to be given a credit facility aggregating to Rs 29.67 crore by the bank.
Further, out of the total amount of Rs 28.54 crore, funds to the tune of Rs 14 crore had been allegedly fraudulently diverted in favour of a sister concern, M/s SLS Stainless Pvt Ltd, which has common directors. Moreover, M/s HTPL had taken a bank guarantee of Rs 4.50 crore, which was devolved due to non-performance. The company had also allegedly misutilised the remaining loan amount by using it for making various payments such as Term Loan repayment, BG Charges, LC charges/LC discount charges, Income Tax Payments etc.
In this manner, it allegedly caused a wrongful loss of Rs 28.54 crore to the bank. However, the bank has recovered an amount of Rs 5.64 crore by auctioning the sale of mortgaged assets and other measures. The remaining loss to the bank is said to be Rs 22.90 crore. During the ED investigation, certain immovable properties were identified in the name of a sister concern of M/s HTPL, officials underlined. The ED issued a provisional attachment order on December 17 for these properties valued at Rs 19.37 crore.
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