Delhi Court sends Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar to 1-day ED custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday sent Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar to one-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a Rs 500 crore money laundering case. Thapar was arrested on Tuesday night after the agency carried out raids against him and his linked businesses in Delhi and Mumbai.

The agency told Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal in a hearing held through video conferencing that investigation revealed that around Rs 500 crore worth proceeds of crime were laundered through Oyster Buildwell Pvt Ltd (OBPL), Jhabua Power Limited (JPL), Jhabua Power Investment Ltd. (JPIL), Avantha Power & Infrastructure Ltd (APIL), Avantha Realty Ltd. (ARL) etc. which were being controlled and beneficially owned directly or indirectly by Thapar.

The probe revealed that sham agreements were made by these entities to fraudulently obtain huge amount running into more than 500 Crores from Yes Bank and further by different modes of layering the tainted amount was laundered and the loan account thus turned NPA causing a loss of huge public money, it said. While seeking his 14-day custody, the ED told the court that there were material evidence and reasons to believe that Thapar was guilty of offence of money laundering, and that he was involved in the laundering of proceeds of crime and had been involved in projecting the proceeds of crime as untainted.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for the accused, opposed ED's remand application and said that his client was in fact the victim in the matter and that the entire transaction had taken place in view of the intention of Yes Bank to have evergreening of loans. The court sent the accused to one-day ED custody and directed the agency to produce him before it on Thursday, when it will hear the arguments on his further custody. Advocates Sandeep Kapur and Niharika Karanjawala of Karanjawala & Co, also appeared for the accused.

In its remand application, the agency said that the accused did not cooperate with the investigation and deliberately failed to divulge the crucial facts regarding his involvement in the instant loan, his coordination and involvement with earlier Yes Bank management, the details of overseas companies/ trusts/ bank accounts/ properties owned by him and his family which are actually required for further investigation.