Enforcement Directorate attaches property in Rs 3,871-cr scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth Rs 73.26 crore of REI Agro Ltd and the beneficiary owners, in connection with bank fraud case to the tune of Rs 3,871.71 crore.

The agency said that during investigation they found that REI Agro Ltd and its director Sandip Jhunjhunwala and others have diverted funds sanctioned as working capital loan by 14 banks under a consortium led by UCO Bank by raising bogus and fake bills.

"We also found that REI Agro Ltd and Jhunjhunwala also invested in Varrsana Ispat Pvt Ltd directly and through controlled companies, thus settling higher amount of Capex advances given to various shell companies by way of arbitration at a very low amount, showing a higher cost of construction and arranging fake purchase and sale bills," the agency said in a statement.

The ED has registered a case of money laundering based on the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on October 26, 2015 for defrauding consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 3,871.71 crore.

The agency said that they have attached 537 hectares of agriculture land at Bikaner, Rajasthan, portion of immovable property owned in Graintech India Ltd in Budhewal, Ludhiana, land and four wind turbines erected on it at Tehsil Sakri in Dhule district of Maharashtra apart from movable properties in the form of shares, mutual funds and bank deposits.

Investigation further revealed that REI Agro Ltd and its directors Jhunjhunwala and others were engaged in arranging false purchase and sale of invoices of rice and paddy through brokers and dealers of Delhi to avail maximum working capital limits from the consortium banks.

Jhunjhunwala has illegitimately diverted the funds to the tune of over Rs 600 crore through Kolkata-based shell companies to the accounts of associates companies or companies controlled by him using banking channels. Later on, Rs 300 crore from the said amount was settled through arbitration against taking over of land valued Rs 22 crore.

He also arranged fake bills of iron and steel to the tune of over Rs 25 crore and showed it as capital expenditure but received back this amount in cash.

Earlier, the ED had attached properties in the form of land located at Sonipat of Varrsana Ispat Pvt Ltd in the form of machinery and equipment, land and buildings located at Kutch, Gujarat of Quick Connect Dot Com and its director located at Sainik Farm, New Delhi, which is worth Rs 511.48 crore.

Bank Fraud Case

• ED has attached properties worth Rs 73.26 crore of REI Agro Ltd and its beneficiary owners. 
• REI Agro Ltd and its directors and others have diverted funds sanctioned by a consortium led by UCO Bank to the tune of Rs 3,871 crore.