Jammu, Aug 22: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Jammu sub-zonal office, has provisionally attached several immovable properties worth approximately Rs 66.77 Cr in the case of Messrs Bharat Papers Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
According to the ED spokesperson, the provisionally attached properties comprised factory land and buildings of Messrs Bharat Papers Limited and two residential houses of directors and relatives of directors of Messrs Bharat Papers Limited.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI, ACB, Jammu, against Messrs Bharat Papers Limited and its directors, namely Anil Kumar, Parveen Kumar, Baljinder Kumar, and Rajinder Kumar, sons of the late Jagdish Chander, for defrauding a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India to the tune of Rs 200 Cr on the basis of a complaint filed by the then DGM, Stressed Asset Management Branch, State Bank of India, Ludhiana, Punjab.
The ED investigation revealed that Messrs Bharat Papers Limited and its directors did not use the loan amount for the intended purpose for which the loan was sanctioned.
However, the funds were diverted through bogus or shell entities and bank accounts opened outside the consortium of banks. Further, the loan funds were also syphoned off by way of cash withdrawals directly from the loan accounts.
“Machine parts from the factory unit of Messrs Bharat Papers Limited were also stealthily removed and sold without the knowledge of the banks. Further investigation is in progress,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, ED and the Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted multiple searches in the Jammu region as part of a money laundering probe linked to the alleged grabbing of custodian land worth crores against some revenue department officials and others.
The case was registered by the ACB (Central) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP).
As per officials, raids were conducted at nine locations in Jammu and one in Udhampur, including at the residences of a personal assistant to a former minister and several property dealers in Jammu.
