US House Among 22 Assets Attached By ED In Rs 112.90 Crore LEEL Electricals Case

 

Jaipur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken a major action against LEEL Electricals Limited, its main promoter Bharat Raj Punj, and others in money laundering case. The agency attached assets worth Rs 112.90 crore, including 22 movable and immovable properties and a residential property in the United States (US).

The properties were seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and include land, industrial plots and residential premises situated in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Officials said the US-based attached asset is located in Houston, Texas. Besides, the federal agency attached bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual fund investments.

The probe by the ED's Jaipur zonal office has revealed that these assets are beneficially owned and controlled by the promoter family of LEEL Electricals Ltd and were held in their own names and through related and shell entities to conceal the proceeds of crime.

 

The agency initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi, under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against LEEL Electricals Ltd, Bharat and other senior officials of the company.

The FIR and the subsequent chargesheet filed by the CBI revealed that the promoters and key managerial personnel of the company entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of banks causing a wrongful loss of about Rs 376 crore to SBI and IDBI Bank.

 

"Investigation under the PMLA has revealed that the accused persons orchestrated a well-planned scheme to siphon off bank funds by manipulating the financial records of the company," said the ED in a statement. "The company's books of accounts were falsified by inflating the value of assets, inventories and receivables to present a misleading financial position and continue availing bank credit facilities."

ED said its investigation further revealed that the diverted funds were routed through a network of promoter-controlled and related companies within India and were also transferred to several overseas subsidiaries under the guise of investments and loans.

 

A significant portion of these funds, it said, could not be recovered, indicating that the overseas entities were used to divert and conceal the Proceeds of Crime. "In the final, integration stage of the scheme, the diverted funds were converted into immovable properties held in the names of related companies and promoter family members, several of which were subsequently sold, with the sale proceeds applied towards personal and operational expenses of the promoter family, including to Renu Punj, mother of Bharat."

ED also said that a substantial portion of the diverted funds was routed outside India through the overseas subsidiary structure which was entirely controlled by Bharat. Accordingly, the residential property situated in Texas, USA, owned jointly by Bharat and his wife Pooja, has also been attached, representing the proceeds of crime held outside India.