Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has temporarily attached immovable properties worth 43.25 Crore that belong to M/s Sheetal Refineries Limited and its promoter, Jitender Kumar Agarwal, MD, for defrauding State Bank of Hyderabad and Punjab National Bank in a bank fraud case.
On the basis of a FIR filed by the CBI BS&FB, Bengaluru, for inflicting a total loss of Rs. 87 Crore, the ED opened a money laundering probe. According to an ED investigation, the accused promoters obtained several credit facilities from SBH and PNB Hyderabad by fabricating financial statements, invoices, and other documents. As though the material were being purchased, they received Letters of Credit (LCs) from lending banks in the names of linked shell companies.
The associated firms discounted the LCs, and the money they got was returned to the Sheetal Refinery promoters. The corporation failed to pay its LCs on time, and the devolved LCs cost the banks money. M/s Sheetal Refineries owes the banks a total of Rs 146 Crore. Instead of being used for the intended purposes, the diverted loan profits—which are nothing more than the proceeds of crime—were used to buy properties and foreclose on previous debts.
In this instance, ED had already attached five mobile assets worth 1.23 crore and six immovable properties with a registered value of 8.30 crore. 15 additional landed assets have now been attached by ED. These assets were purchased for Rs 43.25 crore. The total attachment in this case is 52.78 Crore due to the current attachment of 15 more landed properties in Telangana State. More research is being done.
