The Enforcement Directorate has attached 11 assets worth ₹42.36 crore of the directors of Kolkata-based Shree Mahalaxmi Corporation Private Limited in connection with a bank fraud case.
The agency has initiated a money laundering investigation against the accused persons on the basis of a First Information Report registered, and chargesheet filed, by the Kolkata division of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Shree Mahalaxmi Corporation and its directors have been accused of cheating the State Bank of India to the tune of ₹164 crore by taking loan based on forged documents. The loan amount was allegedly used by them for purposes other than those for which it was sanctioned.
The ED probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act revealed that the loan amount of ₹164 crore was diverted after rotating through the bank accounts maintained by various entities and given a colour of genuine business transactions.
According to the agency, various Letters of Credit (LCs) were opened in the name of certain companies against the credit facilities and the same were discounted on the basis of forged invoices, challans and other related papers. “The LC proceeds were thereafter laundered and siphoned off,” an ED official said.
