Bank 'fraud': ED attaches over Rs 440 crore assets of ex-promoters of Kwality
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate Thursday said it has attached assets worth more than Rs 440 crore in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab as part of an alleged bank loan fraud linked money laundering case against former promoters of dairy major Kwality Ltd.
An order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the provisional attachment of a 12,000 square yards farmhouse located at DLF Chhatarpur, residential properties at Vasant Vihar and Punjabi Bagh in Delhi and some residential plots at Karnal (Haryana) and Mohali (Punjab), the federal agency said.
The total value of these properties is Rs 442.85 crore.
These properties were "owned" by former promoters Siddhant Gupta and Sanjay Dhingra of Kwality Limited through "dummy" companies. The driver and security guard of the said promoters were the directors in such companies, the ED said.
The agency had raided 15 locations in Delhi-NCR in November 2024 as part of the action against former promoters and directors of the company -- Sanjay Dhingra and Siddhant Gupta -- apart from some "shell" (paper) companies related to them.
Kwality has been liquidated and is now with new owners.
The ED case stems from a September, 2020 CBI FIR filed against the said promoters and Kwality, which was engaged in processing and trading of milk, ice cream and other dairy products, for alleged loan fraud of Rs 1,400 crore against a consortium of banks.
The then promoters and directors, the agency said in a statement, "fudged" the books of accounts to show higher sales and debtors.
"Huge amounts of trading (sales/ purchase) were made without actual physical deliveries or receipt of the goods at factory premises. It was also noticed that sham companies/firms operated through implanted/dummy owners were used to divert the bank funds," the ED alleged.
The funds "diverted" through the said modus operandi were circulated and layered so as to conceal their origin and routed to different accounts as per the instructions of the promoters for purposes not intended by the banks, it said.
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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
