Returned assets of Rs 185 cr to banks in loan fraud by Chandigarh firm: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has "returned" assets worth more than Rs 185 crore to a State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium of banks which were allegedly cheated through a loan fraud by a Chandigarh-based pharma company.

The case pertains to Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd, undergoing liquidation currently, its directors and promoters named Rajiv Goyal and Alka Goyal who caused "wrongful loss" worth Rs 828.5 crore to the banks, it said.

The ED filed a criminal case against the accused company and its promoters taking cognisance of a CBI FIR.

The agency said in a statement that loan was obtained by the company using "fabricated" documents such as invoices, transport details, lorry receipts etc for issuance of Inland Letter of Credits (ILCs) and this money was subsequently "layered and siphoned off" by Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd using a web of bank accounts of group companies and shell entities.

This caused a loss of Rs 828.5 crore to the lending banks headed by the SBI, it said.

The "defrauding" company also used "forged" bills of lading, import invoices and documents of shipping line for issuance of Foreign Letter of Credits (FLCs) from the bank, it said.

The promoters (Rajiv Goyal and Alka Goyal) fled India after committing this alleged fraud and were declared "proclaimed offenders" by a Chandigarh court on July 10, 2017.

The ED began its investigation and attached movable and immovable assets of the accused worth Rs 185.13 crore in October, 2022. It subsequently filed a charge sheet in the case on April 4.

The attached assets included a building and super-structure on 80 kanals of land, along with plant and machinery, furniture, and fixtures located in Samba, Jammu, it said.

The ED said it held meetings with the victim banks and the official liquidator appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in this case and "assisted" them in filing a plea for restitution or return of assets to the banks, before the special court in Chandigarh.

"To safeguard the interests of the nationalised banks, the ED provided its no objection to the special court for the restitution of the properties," it said.

The court, the agency said, issued a restitution order on October 25 permitting the return of the attached properties to the consortium of lending banks through the Official Liquidator as per Section 8(7) of the PMLA as the accused have been declared proclaimed offenders.