AHMEDABAD: In an unprecedented move, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here has initiated a process to attach the property of a bank loan defaulter in the US.
The ED informed the development through its Twitter account on Thursday. “ED Indore attaches under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) 1,280 acres of land in California, USA, of Zoom Developers Pvt Ltd and Vijay Chaudhary in bank fraud cases,” it stated.
Chaudhary, the promoter of Zoom Developers, is allegedly absconding after taking a loan of Rs 2,200 crore from several banks. He allegedly took the loan for real estate projects in Europe, but the projects never took off.
The company operates in Indore and Mumbai. The Indore unit of ED, which operates under the ED here, had last month arrested Sharad Kabra, a director of the company. An arrest warrant has also been issued against Chaudhary.
According to an ED official, Chaudhary’s property in California is worth Rs 1,000 crore. “We have initiated the attachment process. We hope to get the court’s nod for that.” This is for the first time that the agency had taken such an action outside India, as Zoom is allegedly involved in one of the biggest bank loan frauds in the country.
The CBI too has initiated a separate investigation in this case after the agency suspected the role of several banks in it. Zoom developers was among the top loan defaulters named by RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, who wrote to PM Modi seeking action on the issue.