ED arrests 2 directors of Delhi firm in Rs 2,300 cr bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested the director of a Delhi-based firm in connection with its money laundering probe in a bank loan fraud case involving over Rs 2,300 crore.

The central probe agency, in a statement, said it has arrested Sanjay Jain and Rajeev Jain of Surya Vinayak Group of Industries, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The duo, who are also brothers, were sent to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till August 25 after they were produced in a court here. "Investigations so far conducted disclosed that Ms Surya Vinayak Industries Ltd and its owners/major shareholders and directors--Sanjay Jain and Rajiv Jain-- obtained loan and credit facilities from a consortium comprising 21 banks, led by Punjab National Bank (PNB), but did not repay the same.

"The resultant outstanding liability against the said company as on September, 2012 stands at Rs 2,066.60 crore," it said.

The ED took over the case early this year based on a CBI FIR. It said that both the brothers had formed various companies like Surya Vinayak Industries Limited, Ms SVIL Mines, Surya Vinayak Wellness Limited, Surya Vinayak Agro Commodities Limited, Allied Perfumers and others and by "fraudulently inflating their actual worth" took large amount in bank loans.

Investigations also disclosed, the agency said, that a sister concern of Ms Surya Vinayak Industries Ltd, Ms SVIL Mines, had taken loan from various banks and as of January, 2014 the outstanding, for which also the Punjab National Bank is the consortium head of 14 banks, is Rs 246 crore.

"These loan amounts were diverted out of these companies, routed through many shell companies and used for purchase of immovable properties. "Further, more than Rs 500 crore have been remitted outside India to their wholly owned subsidiaries," the agency said. The agency, in the past, has attached assets worth Rs 78 crore of the group and its associates.

The Jain brothers were also arrested by the CBI in this case in the past and were out on bail.

PTI