NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against two persons, including a director of a Gujarat pharma firm, in a Rs 5,000 crore money laundering probe case.
Additional Sessions Judge Siddharth Sharma issued the warrant against Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL) director Dipti Chetan Sandesara in the case.
The court issued another open-ended non-bailable warrant (NBW) against her brother Hiteshkumar Narendrabhai Patel, after special public prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for ED, said the two of them had played an active and instrumental role in the laundering of money and are likely to have left the country.
Unlike a non-bailable warrant, an open-ended NBW does not carry a time limit for execution.
Rana told the court that several summonses were issued by ED against both of them but they did not reply to any.
They were evading investigation and their absence was delaying the ongoing probe.
"The accused have prima-facie committed the offence of money laundering having international ramifications.
Their custodial interrogation is of utmost necessity to ascertain the trail of the proceeds of crime.
There is every apprehension that the accused might have crossed the boundaries," the ED said.
According to ED, Deepti allegedly used her firm's credit facilities for personal purposes including purchasing jewelry, clothes and high-end wrist watches, besides making payments to certain individuals.
"It is highly suspected that Dipti Chetan Sandesara, in the capacity of director of several promoter companies of SBL Group, knowingly assisted the main promoters of the said group in the process of misappropriation and bungling of credit facilities obtained by SBL group for several Indian banks," the ED said.
It said the directors of the firm, including Dipti, had acquired properties in foreign countries and it was very likely that those were acquired from the proceeds of crime acquired by them.
The court had in November last year issued open-ended NBWs against Dipti's husband Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and brother-in-law Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara, both co-directors of the firm.
The ED has so far arrested a former Andhra Bank director Anup Prakash Garg, who is currently in judicial custody, and Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, who is out on bail.
Besides Dhawan and Garg, the ED had also arrested Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, one of the directors of the pharma firm, who is also out on bail.
All three were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had lodged the money laundering case after taking cognisance of an FIR registered by the CBI.
The CBI had booked Garg, the firm Sterling Biotech, its directors Dipti, Chetan, Nitin, Dixit and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi and some unidentified persons in connection with the case.
It had alleged that the company took loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which turned into non-performing assets.
The FIR had also alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.
It had alleged that "various cash payments were made to Garg, as reflected in the said entries, on the instructions of the Sandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accounts of several benami companies owned by them".
It had alleged that Garg infused several crores of his unaccounted money in various companies through several Kolkata-based bogus shell companies in order to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.