BHUBANESWAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized as many as 10 luxury cars, three superbikes, jewellery, and cash worth crores from Odisha-based miner Shakti Ranjan Dash during raids conducted in connection with a money laundering and bank fraud case amounting to around Rs 1,396 crore.
The ED's Shimla office on Saturday conducted the raids at the residence and properties of Dash, who is the Managing Director of Anmol Mines Private Limited (AMPL) and Anmol Resources Private Limited (ARPL), including the offices of the two firms in Bhubaneswar.
The raids were connected to its ongoing money laundering investigation related to a bank fraud of Rs 1,396 crore allegedly committed by a firm, Indian Technomac Company Limited (ITCOL).
During the searches, the ED seized 10 luxury cars and three superbikes belonging to Shakti Ranjan Dash and the companies owned by him.
The seized vehicles include a Porsche Cayenne, Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X7, Audi A3, MINI Cooper, and a Honda Gold Wing bike, among others, worth Rs 7 crore.
The central agency also seized jewellery worth RS 1.12 crore, cash to the tune of Rs 13 lakh, and various documents related to immovable properties owned by Dash and his companies. The ED has also frozen two of his bank lockers.
The agency launched a probe into the matter based on an FIR registered by the Himachal Pradesh CID against ITCOL and its promoters. The FIR stated that the directors of ITCOL, in connivance with officials of various other companies and chartered accountants, siphoned off loans availed from a consortium of banks.
The investigation revealed that ITCOL had obtained loans from the consortium, led by Bank of India, between 2009 and 2013 by submitting forged detailed project reports and fake sales to dummy/shell companies. The central agency ascertained that the loans obtained by ITCOL were not utilised for their sanctioned purpose.
During the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency found that ITCOL and its related shell entities diverted Rs 59.80 crore to the bank accounts of Anmol Mines. They also established that Anmol Mines MD Dash assisted ITCOL promoter Rakesh Kumar Sharma in diverting the bank loan amount and utilising the same in mining activities in Odisha.
Dash integrated the amount into the bank accounts of Anmol Mines and projected the ill-gotten money as legal in the firm’s books of accounts, said the ED in a statement issued on Sunday. Further investigation is ongoing, it added.