The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 57.45 crore belonging to Atlas Jewellery Pvt Ltd and its directors M.M. Ramachandran and Indira Ramachandran in Rs 242.40 crore bank loan fraud case occurred between 2013 and 2018, the agency said on Saturday.
The attached assets consist of Gold, Silver and Diamond Jewellery, Silver articles, Amounts lying in bank accounts, bank fixed deposits and immovable properties.
The agency attached these properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
ED initiated a Money Laundering investigation on the basis of the First Information Report registered by the Kerala Police against Atlas Jewellery, M.M. Ramachandran and Indira Ramachandran under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating South Indian Bank, Round South Branch, Thrissur, Kerala.
Money Laundering investigation revealed that the suspected persons during the period from March 21, 2013, to September 26, 2018, cheated South Indian Bank, Round South Branch, Thrissur, Kerala, said the federal agency.
With an intention to cheat, the ED said, the accused persons planned and presented forged documents to the bank and availed loan worth Rs 242.40 crore for business purposes and have not repaid the money, which is nothing but proceeds of crime.
Earlier, on the basis of information gathered from reliable sources to the effect that M.M. Ramachandran had invested Rs 100 Crore by way of purchase of Equity Shares of Atlas Jewellery India Limited (AJIL) (New Delhi) and another Rs 14 crore in the Escrow Account with Axis Bank (New Delhi), the ED had carried out search operations at the business premises and bank lockers of the firm at Mumbai and Bengaluru, resulting in the total seizure of Rs. 12.59 crore in the form of Indian Currency, Gold, Silver and Diamond Jewellery.
( With inputs from ANI )
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