ED conducts searches in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana in alleged ₹190 crore bank loan fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 5 conducted searches at 10 locations in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in relation to an alleged ₹190 crore bank loan fraud, PTI reported citing official sources.

Besides the national capital, the search locations in UP included Noida and Ghaziabad, and Panipat in Haryana, according to the report.

ED's money laundering probe: What we know

The searches are part of a money laundering investigation linked to Shri Sidhdata Ispat Private Limited and others in which Bank of Baroda (former Dena Bank) is claimed to have been defrauded, the officials told PTI.

The 10 locations “are linked to the directors, promoters, partners, auditors, and other conspirators associated with the company which is being investigated in a ₹190 crore worth alleged bank loan fraud case”, they added.

The company under scrutiny, Shri Sidhdata Ispat manufacturers cold and hold rolled steel products. The report added that promoters could not be contacted immediately for a comment on the ED action against them.

Bank fraud: ED arrests former UCO Bank Chair

Earlier the ED on May 16 arrested former UCO Bank chairman Subodh Kumar Goel from his Delhi residence for alleged money laundering. This is in relation to an alleged bank loan fraud case of over ₹6,200 crore linked to a Kolkata-based company, according to another PTI report.

Premises linked to Goel and some other were raided by the ED in April, as part of the investigation against Concast Steel & Power Ltd. (CSPL) and others in an alleged bank fraud case, the PTI report added.

The charges comes from an FIR from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the sanction of credit facilities to CSPL and subsequent large-scale “diversion” and “siphoning” of loans amounting to ₹6,210.72 crore (principle amount without interest).

(With inputs from PTI)