New Delhi: The enforcement directorate has registered a case of money laundering in connection with an alleged Rs 621 crore loan fraud involving UCO Bank, officials said on Sunday.
The agency has filed a criminal complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a CBI first information report (FIR) registered last month.
The CBI booked a former chairman and managing director (CMD) of UCO Bank Arun Kaul, and others in the case. Besides the Kaul, the CBI booked realty firm Era Infra Engineering India, its CMD Hem Singh Bharana, two chartered accountants, and Pawan Bansal of Altius Finserve among others.
The ED will probe if the alleged defrauded bank loans were used to create tainted assets by way of money laundering. The CBI alleged that the accused persons in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy had defrauded UCO Bank to the tune of about Rs 621 crore by diversion and siphoning off the bank loans, they said.
According to the CBI, Kaul, who was the CMD of a Kolkata-based bank between 2010 and 2015, allegedly facilitated the accused company in obtaining the loans.
The loan was not utilised for the sanctioned purpose, the CBI alleged. The ED will also work to identify assets of the accused so that they can be attached, if required, during the course of investigation, they said.
In its complaint, the bank alleged that two loans were issued to the company in 2010 – Rs 200 crore in March and Rs 450 crore in October.
The Rs 200 crore loan was issued for repayment of high cost debt to Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and IFCI. It was found that the company did not utilise the amount for the purpose for which it was disbursed and diverted the funds.
