NEW DELHI: As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into the alleged money laundering charges in the PMC Bank case, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is widening its probe as the name of more companies have cropped up in the probe.
“The ED is already looking into the money laundering charges. The initial probe has suggested that there are other infrastructure companies involved, which were also part of the round-tripping of funds. The ministry will look into the account books of all the companies,” an official from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told this publication.
During the probe, it was found that there were some companies involved which had heavy transaction post demonetisation move, he said.
“The probe has revealed suspicious transactions by the companies post demonetisation. While it was not the case of NPA, but there is anomalies in the entry and the transaction is not well-explained. We are looking into the account books of the company and probing it,” the official added.
The official also revealed that apart from the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), which is already being probed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and MCA, there are also smaller firms involved where loans were given as “personal favour”.
“It is very clear that there is a huge exposure. It (HDIL) was not able to repay its debts for quite sometime. There are serious issues on the face of it. Those matters will have to be looked in. We have to see whether there is a business failure or some other issues involved,” MCA secretary Injeti Srinivas had said earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the special Prevention of Money Laundering court on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, accused in the PMC Bank fraud case till October 24, 2019.
The ED had also seized and identified movable and immovable assets worth more than `3,830 crore owned by the HDIL in connection with the case.