HYDERABAD: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties, including land parcels and buildings, valued at Rs 4.60 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with a bank fraud case involving Sri Krishna Stockists & Traders Private Limited (SKSTPL) and its directors. The ED stated that the current market value of these properties is Rs 18.42 crore.
The ED initiated its investigation based on three FIRs filed by the CBI following complaints from lending banks Industrial Finance Corporation of India Limited (IFCI), Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Canara Bank. These complaints alleged that SKSTPL and Sri Krishna Agriprocess India Pvt Ltd (SKAIPL), through their directors, had obtained substantial loans by submitting falsified and fabricated balance sheets, forged and inflated asset valuation reports and fabricated work estimates.
The funds were then diverted, and the loan accounts became NPAs, resulting in loss of Rs 528.26 crore. The probe revealed that SKSTPL and SKAIPL, represented by their MD Thota Kanna Rao, secured various credit facilities amounting to Rs 313 crore from IFCI, IDBI and Canara Bank between 2014 and 2015.
The loans were intended for the construction of storage facilities for preserving, processing and reselling agricultural produce. These credit facilities were secured by mortgaging properties and stocks, which were grossly inflated in collusion with employees of Andhra Pradesh Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Limited, MITCON Consultancy & Engineering Services and VC Rammohan, the then DGM of IFCI. Thota Kanna Rao also manipulated financial records and obtained fake work completion certificates, which were submitted to the lenders to justify the loans, the ED stated.
The fund trail probe revealed that the loan amounts were withdrawn in cash and laundered to purchase various land parcels. During the probe, in August 2022, the ED had previously attached 57 land parcels valued at Rs 37.38 crore.