Subhash Sharma, the son of Lokeshwar Prasad Sharma, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate on March 6, 2022, in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in relation to a bank fraud case.
On the basis of many FIRs filed by the Chhattisgarh State Police and CBI against Subhash Sharma and others for illegally acquiring loans from various banks through firms owned and managed by him, ED opened a money laundering inquiry. Involved in the aforementioned FIRs are Proceeds of Crime (POC) totalling about Rs. 54 crores.
According to ED’s investigations, loans obtained fraudulently by businesses owned and controlled by Subhash Sharma between December 2009 and December 2014 were diverted and invested in unintended businesses, and some proceeds of crime were also used to buy real estate under the names of shell companies. The majority of Subhash Sharma’s businesses had no commercial operations and were solely established to transfer or route loan payments that were received by his businesses to other businesses.
Two PAOs have been issued, attaching moveable and immovable property worth Rs. 39.68 crores that was obtained from criminal proceeds. The arrestee Subash Sharma has been placed in the custody of the ED for ten days by the Hon’ble Special Judge at the PMLA Court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The situation is still being looked into further.
