INDIA. Mumbai: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 70 immovable and movable assets belonging to three jewellers based in Maharashtra and Gujarat in connection with a bank fraud case.
The jewellers, M/s Rajmal Lakhichand Jewellers Pvt. Ltd, M/s R L Gold Pvt. Ltd., and M/s Manraj Jewellers Pvt. Ltd, are accused of causing a loss of over Rs. 352.49 crore to the State Bank of India (SBI) by non-payment of loans.
The attached assets include movable assets such as windmills, silver and diamond jewellry, bullion, and Indian currency. These assets, along with benami properties acquired by the promoters of the companies, are now provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED’s investigation was initiated based on three FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The charges include criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, and criminal misconduct.
The investigations revealed that the promoters of these companies submitted fake financial documents to secure loans from SBI.
They also engaged in round-tripping transactions to inflate their financial records and booked bogus sale-purchase transactions to divert the loan proceeds into real estate investments. This was allegedly done in collusion with the auditors of the companies.
Previously, the ED conducted search operations at 13 official and residential premises of the Rajmal Lakhichand group in Jalgaon, Nashik, and Thane (Maharashtra).
During these searches, they seized gold, silver, diamond jewelry, bullion, and Indian currency in cash, along with various incriminating documents. The investigations also revealed fictitious stock inventories and the use of shell companies, among other irregularities.
The provisional attachment of assets is a significant step in recovering the funds defrauded from the State Bank of India in this case.
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