custodyNew Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) A former Andhra Bank director,arrested in connection with a money laundering probe in analleged Rs 5,000-crore bank fraud case involving a Gujarat-based pharma firm, was today sent to a two-day custody of theEnforcement Directorate (ED).
Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Ritu Singh sent Anup PrakashGarg, who was arrested by the ED last evening, after theagency said he was required for custodial interrogation.
The ED had sought a two-week custody of Garg.
This was the second arrest in the case after the agencyhad, in November last year, held Delhi-based businessman GaganDhawan.
Garg has been arrested under the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA). He has been named as an accused in thecase by the ED as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI).
The ED had lodged the money laundering case after takingcognisance of an earlier FIR registered by the CBI.
The agency had said that during the probe, it came across"certain entries" in a diary seized by the Income Taxdepartment in 2011, which showed various cash paymentsamounting to Rs 1.52 crore made to one "Mr Garg, Director,Andhra Bank" by the Sandesara brothers between 2008 and 2009.
It had said, "Various cash payments were made to Garg, asreflected in the said entries, on the instructions of theSandesara brothers, by withdrawing cash from the bank accountsof several benami companies owned by them."It had alleged that Garg infused several crores of hisunaccounted money in various companies through severalKolkata-based bogus shell companies, with the help of cash orcheque entry operators in Kolkata, in order to launder theproceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras.
The CBI had booked the Sterling Biotech, its directorsChetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara,Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara andVilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, Garg and someunidentified persons in connection with the case.
It had alleged that the company took loans of over Rs5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which turnedinto non-performing assets.
The FIR had also alleged that the total pending dues ofthe group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31,2016. PTI UKRC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.