ED attaches Rs 30 cr shares of JW Marriott Kolkata in PMLA case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday attached Rs 30 crore worth shares of 5-star hotel JW Marriot in Kolkata, in connection with a loan default-related money-laundering case it is probing against SPS Steels Rolling Mills Limited.

The financial probe agency has also attached luxurious apartments and residential properties in Kolkata's Chingrighata area worth Rs 22 crore in addition to official premises and land worth Rs 40 crore in connection with the case.

The ED had registered a money-laundering case against SPS Steels and its directors after taking cognisance of a Rs 551 crore bank default case the CBI had filed against the company in July 2017.

Speaking to the Millennium Post, the highly-placed source said that the alleged proceeds of crime were used to purchase shares worth Rs 30 crore in Kolkata's JW Marriot in the name of one Baglas Trading Company Limited, beneficially owned by a person with links to the SPS Steels director.

He said that officials of the accused company had allegedly propped-up at the very least three to four shell companies to siphon-off the loan amounts disbursed to it by the banks, a part of which was diverted to purchase shares in the luxury Kolkata hotel, located right beside ITC Sonar Bangla.

Moreover, ED's investigation has revealed that the luxury residential properties in Kolkata's Chingrighata area were registered to a company, allegedly owned by the son-in-law of the SPS Steels director.

The CBI had, in its FIR, alleged that the company had taken loans from a consortium of eight banks led by Allahabad Bank and then defaulted on the loan payments.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered its case based on a complaint filed by the leader of the consortium, which included Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad, Central Bank of India, UBI, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Corporation Bank.