ED arrests owner of Gurugram’s Ambience Mall in alleged bank loan fraud case

On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Raj Singh Gehlot, the MD of Ambience Mall in Gurugram in an alleged bank loan fraud case. The ED has booked Gehlot under PMLA. He is accused of committing a Rs 800 Cr bank load fraud with a consortium led by the J&K Bank.

As per media reports, ED produced Gehlot before a PMLA court in Delhi for remand hearing after arresting him in Gurugram.

Before Gehlot’s arrest, the ED had reportedly conducted raids on seven Delhi locations connected to him including offices of Ambience group and Aman Hospitality Pvt Ltd (AHPL). The Ambience group owns several Ambience Malls in NCR region, as well as Gurugram-based The Leela Ambience Convention Centre. Rs 16 lakh worth foreign currency was reportedly seized by the agency.

It has also been reported that Gehlot was raided by ED in August 2020 and has questioned the businessman on multiple occasions over several months. Furthermore, the interrogation by ED revealed in 2020 that Gehlot’s Ambience Mall property in Gurugram was built on land meant for residential projects.

The ED is reportedly investigating if the loan amount was defrauded and moved via shell companies.