The Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches on the premises of a resolution professional in Delhi and Gurugram, in connection with the bank fraud case against Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL) and others.
The agency alleges that BPSL indulged in clandestine clearance of finished goods worth about ₹700 crore from its Odisha plant to those located in Kolkata and Chandigarh, without paying the applicable taxes and duties. The goods were cleared without issuing any statutory invoice.
The practice continued even after the initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process. “...Some irregularities on part of Resolution Professional M.K. Khandelwal were also revealed,” said the ED in a statement on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the agency also searched the residence of a former BPSL director. Laptops, mobile phones, extracts and other valuables, such as jewellery worth ₹86 lakh were seized during the raids.
The ED said incriminating documents indicating receipt of cash by Mr. Khandelwal, while discharging duties of the resolution professional/interim resolution professional, were also found. “Huge cash payments to various individuals outside the books of accounts indicate siphoning and generation of cash from various concerns undergoing the process of CIRP under NCLT [National Company Law Tribunal],” it said.
According to the agency, BPSL promoters — Sanjay Singal and others — illegally diverted the loans taken from various banks. The funds were allegedly used for creating assets, including equity investments in BPSL and buying movable/immovable properties in Delhi and London, in the name of companies controlled by Mr. Singal.
The ED has so far attached assets worth ₹4,229.54 crore in the case and filed charge sheet against 25 persons. The money-laundering probe is based on the bank fraud case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation on April 5, 2019.
