BENGALURU: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 78 immovable properties and 16 movable properties valued approximately at Rs 124 crore in the possession of various persons and entities linked to the Chennai-based Surana Group of Companies, under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with three cases of bank fraud involving Rs 3,986 crore of principal outstanding amount to public sector banks.
ED earlier attached properties valued at Rs 124.95 crore (approx). Now, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 248.98 crore.
The Central agency, which had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of three FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Bengaluru against Surana Industries Limited & Others, Surana Power Limited & Others and Surana Corporation Limited & Others, had arrested four persons in July 2022.
“Investigations revealed that these three companies defrauded the banks by floating a web of shell companies wherein they appointed its employees/relatives as directors/proprietors/partners and indulged in paper transactions with them without actual movement of goods, the credit capital of the banks were round tripped/layered to the personal accounts of the promoters of the company by projecting the bank funds as unsecured loans from their associate shell companies and same funds were then subsequently infused in the main group companies as part of the promoters contribution to enhance the drawing power limits. Further, some of the diverted funds were used to purchase movable/immovable properties in the names of various benami persons/companies,” an official release stated.