In accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has temporarily attached 78 immovable properties and 16 mobile properties valued at approximately Rs. 124 crores that are in the possession of various individuals and entities connected to the Chennai-based Surana Group of Companies in connection with three cases of bank fraud involving Rs. 3986 crores of principal outstanding amount to the public sector banks. ED has already attached properties worth approximately Rs. 124.95 crores. The current total attachment in the case is 248.98 crore rupees.
Three FIRs filed by the Central Bureau of Probe, BF&SB, Bengaluru against M/s Surana Industries Limited & Others, M/s Surana Power Limited & Others, and M/s Surana Corporation Limited & Others served as the foundation for the money laundering probe launched by the ED.
According to ED investigations, the Surana Group’s three companies orchestrated bank fraud by creating a complex network of shell companies. They strategically appointed their employees and relatives as directors, proprietors, and partners in these shell companies. Through fictitious transactions, they manipulated the movement of goods on paper without any actual exchange. The credit capital from the banks was redirected to the personal accounts of the company’s promoters, who presented the funds as unsecured loans from affiliated shell companies. Subsequently, these funds were injected into the primary group companies as part of the promoters’ contributions, aiming to boost the drawing power limits.
Additionally, some of the diverted cash were utilised to buy real estate, both mobile and immovable, in the names of numerous benami individuals and businesses. These activities by the Surana Group promoters and executives caused the accounts to become irregular, which in turn caused the accounts to become NPA.
Dinesh Chand Surana, MD of M/s Surana Industries Limited and M/s Surana Power Ltd., Vijay Raj Surana, MD of M/s Surana Corporation Limited, and two fictitious directors of shell companies, P. Anand and I Prabhakaran, were all detained on July 12 and later sent to judicial custody based on the results of the investigations. The PMLA Special Court received the prosecution complaints. The matter is the subject of more investigation.
