ED arrests Kamal Nath's nephew in Rs 354 crore bank fraud case
However, on August 14, the Delhi high court had granted interim protection from arrest to Ratul Puri till Tuesday.
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, in a fresh case of money laundering pertaining to an alleged Rs 354 crore bank loan fraud case. Meanwhile, the Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed anticipatory bail plea of Mr Puri in a separate money-laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
As far as Mr Puri’s arrest is concerned, sources said that he was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late Monday night after he appeared before the agency here. The agency sleuths registered a fresh case against him and others, taking cognisance of a CBI’s FIR related to Rs 354 crore bank loan fraud case filed last week. Mr Puri was formally declared arrested on Tuesday.
The latest PMLA case has been registered on the basis of a CBI’s FIR of August 17, where Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita and others have been booked in connection with a Rs 354 crore bank fraud case filed by the Central Bank of India. The CBI had carried out multiple searches in pursuance of this FIR on Sunday. The Puri family, other individuals like Sanjay Jain and Vineet Sharma were booked by the CBI for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption. Ratul Puri was booked in this case in his capacity as executive director of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), a firm promoted by his father Deepak Puri.
Mr Puri is already under the scanner of the ED in connection with the multi-crore VVIP choppers scam and was facing a non-bailable warrant issued by a court after the ED submitted to it that he might try to tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses “as he already did earlier”. However, on August 14, the Delhi high court had granted interim protection from arrest to Ratul Puri till Tuesday. The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Ratul Puri saying his custodial interrogation was “required for an effective investigation”.