ROURKELA: The Bhubaneswar zonal office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached immovable property worth Rs 24.60 crore in a money laundering case involving Maa Tarini Industries Limited (MTIL) and others.
The ED in a statement on Tuesday said the attached property comprises the ground floor, first floor and a part of the second floor of the Pluto Plaza Mall at Chhend colony in Rourkela under the ownership of the Pluto Plaza Private Limited (PPPL), a company controlled by Hanuman Khedaria.
The ED investigation was initiated following an FIR registered by CBI, ACB, Bhubaneswar, under various provisions and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against the MTIL at Kalunga near Rourkela, its directors, and officials of PEC Limited, a Government of India enterprise (its website states the company has not undertaken any business activity since September 2019).
The ED said it was alleged that MTIL, in connivance with certain officials of PEC Limited, fraudulently obtained financial assistance of Rs 19.40 crore for procurement of iron ore by misrepresenting its financial position and concealing existing charges over its assets.
Another corporate entity, Tathagat Exports Private Limited (TEPL), had also availed of financial assistance of Rs 16 crore from PEC Limited. The total outstanding liability towards PEC Limited was approximately Rs 56.89 crore, including interest at the time when the loan became NPA, the ED said.
The investigation revealed that the funds obtained from PEC Limited were diverted through the bank accounts of MTIL and TEPL and utilised towards payment of share purchase consideration to the erstwhile shareholders of MTIL including Khedaria.
Investigation also revealed that Khedaria and his associated entities received proceeds amounting to around Rs 15.31 crore, which along with the interest component amounted to Rs 24.60 crore.
KALPANA FINANCE SERVICE STATE HEAD FACES RAIDS
Baripada: The enforcement directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted simultaneous searches at the residence of the state head of Kalpana Finance Service and nine other locations across Odisha and West Bengal in connection with a financial fraud estimated at `122-crore.
An ED team searched Iswar Bindhani’s residence at Bisole village in Mayurbhanj’s Kaptipada and questioned him. Official sources said searches were simultaneously carried out at nine other locations: Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur, Angul and Cuttack in Odisha, as well as four locations in West Bengal. The searches followed complaints from investors in Mayurbhanj, Angul, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts, who alleged that they had been duped after investing in various schemes floated by Kalpana Finance Service.
The organisation had allegedly promised attractive returns and financial benefits but failed to deliver the assured profits. During its investigation, the ED reportedly found that the organisation had set up offices at several locations in Odisha and West Bengal. Bindhani was allegedly operating as its agent and Odisha head.
