Bank loan fraud: ED attaches Rs 483-crore assets of Kolkata business group
New Delhi: Assets worth Rs 483 crore of a Kolkata-based group have been attached by the ED in connection with an alleged multi-crore bank loan fraud case, officials said Tuesday.
They said the agency has issued a provisional order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), for attachment of properties of the Tayal group of companies.
Sources said the group had availed loans of Rs 524 crore from the Bank of India and Andhra Bank in 2008 which was allegedly defrauded by it using a "maze of shell or illegal companies."
This is the second PMLA case against the Tayal group as it was already being probed by the agency for alleged loan fraud against UCO Bank and assets worth Rs 234 crore of the business group were attached by it in 2016.
The agency has also filed a charge sheet in the UCO Bank case before a special PMLA court in Kolkata.
"The agency has been able to recover almost the entire amount of loan fraud through these attachments which will now face judicial scrutiny. The role of bank officials in the second case is under probe," a senior official said.
The ED had taken over the case against the Kolkata based group on the basis of a CBI FIR.
"During investigation, it was revealed that the said companies under the umbrella of Tayal group of companies, represented by promoter Praveen Kumar Tayal, were involved in large scale fraud perpetrated on several nationalised banks across the country.
"During investigations, it was revealed that the funds received from the banks by the said Tayal group of companies for specific purpose were siphoned off through a maze of fictitious companies and from there to unknown destinations," the ED had earlier said.
The utilisation of funds, as claimed by the said Tayal group of companies were found to be fictitious. From the trail of funds, it is abundantly clear that the said funds were laundered through its group companies, it said.
"Nevertheless, the said Tayal group of companies despite having a large amount of liabilities to banks, acquired a number of properties and also placed huge amounts in bank accounts, which are believed to represent the value of the proceeds of crime," it said in 2016 while describing the modus operandi of the alleged fraud.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
