Luxury vehicles including a Porsche and a Mini Cooper; superbikes including a Honda; more than Rs 1 crore in jewellery. These were among the seizures made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after searching the premises of a Bhubaneswar businessman in a money laundering case.
The agency searched two premises of businessman Shakti Ranjan Dash on August 30 in Bhubaneswar, including his residence and his business. Dash is the Managing Director of Anmol Mines Pvt Ltd and Anmol Resources Pvt Ltd, which, according to ED sources, have allegedly received `59.80 crore from Shimla-based ITCOL, which is accused of siphoning bank loans.
Dash has also been accused of assisting ITCOL promoters in diverting the bank loan funds and utilising the same in mining activities in Odisha.
ED sources said ten luxury cars were seized, including a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes-Benz GLC, a BMW X7, an Audi A3 and a Mini Cooper. Among the seized superbikes was a Honda Gold Wing.
In addition, cash of Rs 13 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 1.12 crore and various records related to immovable properties owned by Dash and his companies were also seized. Also, two lockers belonging to Dash have been frozen.
The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Himachal Pradesh Police CID against ITCOL and its promoters for alleged siphoning of bank loans.
The ED has said ITCOL had obtained loans worth around Rs 1,396 crore from a consortium of banks between 2009 and 2013 by showing forged detailed project reports and fake sales to dummy companies. The loans obtained by ITCOL were not utilised for the purposes they were sanctioned for.
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Earlier in this case, ED had attached assets amounting to Rs 310 crore. Out of this, assets worth Rs 289 crore have been restituted by ED to the consortium led by Bank of India in April.
ITCOL and its related shell entities also allegedly diverted Rs 59.80 crore into the bank accounts of Anmol Mines. “Dash integrated the said amount in bank accounts of Anmol Mines Pvt. Ltd. which then projected this tainted money as untainted money in its books of accounts,” said ED statement.
