Ahmedabad, March 27 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Ahmedabad Zonal Office has filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged bank fraud case involving Shree Om Fab and others, officials said on Friday.

The ED initiated its investigation based on a FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a written complaint lodged by the Oriental Bank of Commerce.

A chargesheet was subsequently filed by the CBI on December 16, 2019, detailing the findings of its probe.

According to the ED, Shree Om Fab, along with Shree Baba Textile and Shree Laxmi Fab -- proprietorship concerns of Ranjit Loonia -- were sanctioned credit facilities amounting to Rs 9.95 crore, which increased to approximately Rs 10.9 crore with accrued interest by the time the accounts became non-performing assets.

The agency alleged that Loonia conspired with a panel valuer, Mayur Shah, and others to secure the loans by submitting “false and incorrect business records” and “forged documents”.

The ED stated that inflated valuation reports of mortgaged properties were arranged to obtain higher credit limits.

Officials further said that the sanctioned cash credit limits were not utilised for genuine business purposes.

“The loan funds were diverted to various bank accounts without any genuine business transactions, withdrawn in cash, and used for activities such as purchase of bullion and repayment of housing loans,” the agency said.

During the course of the investigation, searches were carried out at premises linked to the accused, leading to the recovery of valuables worth approximately Rs 3.67 crore.

The ED also provisionally attached two immovable properties valued at Rs 53.50 lakh at the time of attachment, with their present market value estimated at around Rs 4.65 crore.

“The proceeds of crime were identified, traced and attached under the provisions of the PMLA,” the agency said, adding that further investigation in the matter is ongoing.

--IANS

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