Latest news with #SpecialPMLACourt
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Falcon scam: Special PMLA Court give ED custody of accused in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: The Special PMLA Court, Hyderabad, on Tuesday granted the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) three days' custody of Sandeep Kumar, arrested on July 31 in connection with a Rs 792 crore scam linked to Capital Protection Force Pvt Ltd, Amardeep Kumar and others. The ED's probe, based on three FIRs filed by the Cyberabad police's Economic Offences Wing, found that the company, under its 'Falcon invoice discounting scheme', lured investors with promises of high returns but never repaid them. The scheme, created by mastermind Amardeep Kumar through the Falcon invoice app, allegedly involved no real invoice discounting. Investigators allege the proceeds of crime were diverted to buy equity shares, fund companies, purchase an aircraft, gamble in casinos and acquire properties in the name of Amardeep Kumar and his family. Of these funds, Rs 4.85 crore was transferred to Sandeep Kumar, who allegedly used them for his businesses and property purchases. Earlier, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 18.14 crore, including Rs 7.65 crore linked to Sandeep Kumar.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
ED gets three-day custody of accused in ₹792 crore scam
The Special PMLA Court in Hyderabad has granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) three days' custody of Sandeep Kumar in connection with the ₹792 crore fraud allegedly orchestrated by Hyderabad-based Capital Protection Force Pvt. Ltd. and its director Amardeep Kumar. Sandeep Kumar was arrested by the ED on July 31, 2025 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing probe into alleged financial crimes involving the company, its director Amardeep Kumar, and others. He was initially produced before the court on August 1 and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days before the ED sought his interrogation. The investigation stems from three FIRs registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Cyberabad police, which accused the company and its associates of duping investors with promises of high returns. According to the ED, Amardeep Kumar masterminded the Falcon invoice discounting scheme, attracting investments under the pretext of funding invoice discounting and offering returns based on the discounted invoices. However, investigators found no evidence of legitimate invoice discounting and alleged that investors were defrauded of approximately ₹792 crore. The ED said the proceeds of crime were channelled into equity shares of several companies, loans, the purchase of an aircraft, high-value casino spending, and real estate acquisitions in the names of Amardeep Kumar and his family members. Of these proceeds, about ₹4.85 crore was allegedly transferred to Sandeep Kumar's bank account. Officials said he played an active role in managing companies owned and controlled by his brother and served as a director in M/s Falcon Capital Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Swastik Ghee Pvt. Ltd., which together received ₹5.74 crore in illicit funds. The money was allegedly used for business operations and to purchase immovable properties. The ED has already attached assets worth ₹18.14 crore in the case, including properties valued at ₹7.65 crore linked to Sandeep Kumar. Further investigation is under way.
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
ED files supplementary prosecution complaint in Amtek Auto bank fraud case
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday said it had filed a supplementary prosecution complaint before the Special PMLA Court at Rouse Avenue, New Delhi, in connection with the multi-thousand-crore bank fraud involving the Amtek Auto group and its associate companies. According to the ED, the complaint, filed on August 1, names 56 accused — including group promoter Arvind Dham, his family members, chartered accountants, bankers, resolution professionals, and Mumbai-based stock market operators. The court issued notices to all accused on August 7 under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNSS). The ED probe, launched on the directions of the Supreme Court in February 2024, is based on Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIRs arising from complaints by IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. Investigators allege that the Amtek group fraudulently diverted loans from public sector banks, manipulated fixed asset valuations, and engaged in criminal misappropriation. Chartered accountants are accused of filing false audit reports, while bankers allegedly sanctioned loans for undue benefits and 'evergreened' credit facilities without following Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms — resulting in a spike in non-performing assets (NPAs). The ED has also linked the group to stock price manipulation of Castex Technologies Ltd., allegedly using siphoned bank funds to hire Mumbai-based operators to rig share prices, defrauding foreign portfolio investors of nearly Rs 1,000 crore. Following massive defaults, 15 group companies went into insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), with lenders taking an average haircut of 81 per cent — recovering only Rs 6,300 crore of total admitted claims exceeding Rs 34,000 crore. The agency alleges that before insolvency, promoters had moved assets through undervalued transfers to front entities and created nearly 500 shell companies to conceal properties worth over Rs 6,000 crore. According to the ED, it has so far attached assets worth Rs 6,261.37 crore — including earlier attachments of Rs 5,115.31 crore in September 2024 — most valued at book or circle rates, with the market value believed to be much higher. The supplementary complaint expands the scope of prosecution to cover the roles of promoters, senior management, auditors, bankers, resolution professionals, and stock market operators in what the ED describes as a complex web of loan fraud, market manipulation, and asset concealment. In a separate case, the ED's Ahmedabad Zonal Office conducted search operations at various locations linked to Megh Shah and Mahendra Shah across Ahmedabad and Mumbai on August 7 and 8, 2025. 'ED had initiated investigation against Mahendra Shah, Megh Shah, and others under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, on the basis of a case involving the seizure of foreign-marked gold of approximately 88 kg (out of which about 52 kg contained foreign markings linked to Dubai, Australia, and Switzerland) in a joint search conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ahmedabad, and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat, at Flat No. 104, Avishkar Flats, Mahalakshmi area of Paldi, Ahmedabad,' the ED said in a statement. It further said that during the fresh searches, the ED seized cash amounting to about Rs 15 lakh, four luxury cars — BMW X6M, Bentley Continental GT, BMW 730 LD, and BMW 328 I — numerous imported luxury watches of brands such as Rolex and Cartier valued at Rs 1.51 crore, as well as stamps and cheque books of around 40 entities or companies.
The Print
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Print
ED's case against Chaitanya Baghel hinges on ‘Rs 1,000 crore laundered for liquor syndicate'
The federal probe agency submitted a list of allegations against Chaitanya Baghel in its remand application, which was moved before the Special PMLA Court in Raipur. Chaitanya is currently in ED's custody, after being arrested on 18 July, ironically his birthday. Chaitanya, the only son of Bhupesh Baghel, was arrested from their Bhilai residence in an investigation into irregularities in the excise policy during the Congress government's tenure from 2018 to 2023. New Delhi: He used his real estate projects and his contacts to try to launder about Rs 1,000 crore generated by a liquor syndicate, personally getting over Rs 16 crore for his efforts: This is the Enforcement Directorate's case against Chhattisgarh ex-chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's son Chaitanya Baghel. The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR filed by Chhattisgarh's Economic Offences Wing in January 2024 against 70 individuals and entities, including the then excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and top bureaucrats of the time. Lakhma was earlier arrested in the same case by the ED, and he is still in judicial custody. In its remand application, the agency alleged that Chaitanya had not cooperated and concealed crucial facts, and so he had to be arrested—a claim strongly refuted by his legal team. 'He was never summoned for questioning, and neither were his statements recorded under section 50 of the PMLA. A case has been built based on the statement of a co-accused who is walking free after making statements implicating Chaitanya in the case. This is a pick-and-choose approach of the ED, devoid of consistent application of the law,' his lawyer, Faisal Rizvi, told ThePrint. The ED's case is largely based on the statements of another accused in the case, Laxmi Narayan Bansal alias Pappu, a cash courier, who has alleged that he moved about Rs 1,000 crore on Chaitanya's directions, and that this cash was the proceeds of the liquor policy syndicate. Besides this, the ED is also probing Pappu's statement that he delivered Rs 100 crore in cash to Chaitanya. 'Cash courier, undervalued construction projects' Chaitanya, a doctor by profession who owns a real estate firm named Baghel Developers, came under scrutiny from the agency first in March when officials raided his family's residence in Bhilai in connection with the liquor policy scam. The Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing and the ED have alleged that the liquor syndicate was run by Anwar Dhebar, brother of the former Raipur mayor, Aijaz Dhebar. Anwar, in association with suspended IAS officer Anil Tuteja, managed the overall liquor supply, collecting commissions on the ground, and transferring kickbacks to ministers and officials allegedly part of the syndicate. The syndicate caused a loss of revenue to the tune of more than Rs 3,100 crore to the state government during the Congress rule. Explaining granular details of the case against Chaitanya, the ED said in its remand application that as part of his efforts to launder the proceeds of crime for the liquor syndicate, Chaitanya carried out illegal transactions worth Rs 5 crore with a firm called Saheli Jewellers. The agency has alleged that a large part of the overall Rs 3,100 crore estimated proceeds of crime generated by the liquor policy syndicate was moved by Pappu. Pappu has confessed that he received Rs 136 crore in three months from syndicate kingpin Anwar Dhebar and delivered it to different businessmen on Chaitanya's instructions. Of this, the agency says, Pappu moved Rs 1,000 crore for Chaitanya. 'He used to collect these proceeds of crime from Anwar Dhebar via Dipen Chawda and thereafter he delivered the said funds to Shri Ram Gopal Agarwal in coordination with you (Chaitanya),' the agency alleged in the remand application, which ThePrint has seen. The agency further alleged that proceeds of crime were adjusted in a real estate project of Chaitanya's firm by undervaluing the project cost on paper. The agency alleges the actual cost of the project would be around Rs 13 to 15 crore, but was shown to be Rs 7.14 crore. Even out of the documented cost of Rs 7.14 crore, only Rs 2.62 crore was documented as payment to the construction company involved in the project. The remaining amount, the agency alleges, was paid in cash from the proceeds of the liquor syndicate. The ED further submitted that proceeds of crime were also laundered through indirect purchases of flats in Baghel Developers' projects, the money for which was paid indirectly by Chaitanya himself. For instance, the agency documented that the controller of two firms, Dhillon Drinks and Dhillon City Mall—Trilok Singh Dhillon paid Rs 5 crore to Baghel Developers to purchase flats in the name of his 'employees'. The entire scheme, the agency alleged, was designed to incorporate the entry of proceeds of crime as a legitimate inflow of funds into the books of Baghel Developers. 'Thus, based on findings of investigation, it is evident that Chaitanya Baghel is in receipt of proceeds of crime of Rs 16.70 crore and has also played an important role in handling of more than Rs 1,000 crore originating out of proceeds of crime. Chaitanya Baghel had concealed the true origin of the proceeds of crime by assimilating it in his project, so as to project the same as untainted,' the agency submitted. (Edited by Viny Mishra) Also read: ED arrests Bhupesh Baghel's son in Chhattisgarh liquor 'scam', ex-CM alleges conspiracy by 'Modi-Shah'
Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
ED Surat restitutes Rs1.85 crore to SBI in Rs12.12 crore bank ‘fraud' case
The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Surat Sub Zonal Office has restituted movable properties worth Rs 1.85 crore, including accumulated interest, to the State Bank of India (SBI) in connection with Rs 12.12 crore bank fraud case, registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against M/s Sai Parsad Organics Pvt Ltd and others, said a statement on Wednesday. This restitution of attached properties under the provisions of the PMLA, was made in accordance with the order passed by the Special PMLA Court, Ahmedabad Rural. According to the statement, the ED had initiated its investigation into the matter on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bank Securities & Fraud Cell (BS&FC), Mumbai, on January 29, 2010. 'Investigation revealed that Manoj Kumar Gupta, formerly the Chief Manager, State Bank of India, Salabatpura Branch, had by his acts of omission and commission fraudulently discounted Letter of Credit in favour of M/s Sai Prasad Organisers Pvt Ltd based on fake documents and transferred Rs 12.12 crore in the account of M/s Sai Prasad Organics Pvt Ltd during the period from October 8, 2009, to October 30, 2009,' said the ED statement. During the course of investigation, Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs1.16 crore had been attached by the Enforcement Directorate vide Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) dated March 25, 2015 and the adjudicating authority, PMLA, New Delhi, confirmed the said PAO vide its order dated July 6, 2015. Further, a prosecution complaint was also filed before the Special PMLA Court, Ahmedabad, against Manoj Kumar Gupta and others. During the course of trial, an application under the PMLA, seeking restitution of the attached movable properties was filed before the court by the SBI which was not objected to by the ED, as per the statement. Accordingly, the Special PMLA Court, Ahmedabad, allowed the restitution, enabling the return of said valuable assets to the rightful claimant bank, according to the statement.
