ED seizes over a dozen luxury cars, superbikes from Odisha in bank fraud case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has seized a dozen luxury vehicles, including a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Mini Cooper and a BMW, following searches against an Odisha-based businessman and his companies in a money laundering case linked to Rs 1,396 crore alleged bank fraud.

The raids were conducted on Saturday on the premises of Anmol Mines Pvt. Ltd. (AMPL) and Anmol Resources Pvt. Ltd. (ARPL), and their managing director (MD), Shakti Ranjan Dash, in Bhubaneswar.

The action was carried out in the alleged bank loan fraud case against a Himachal Pradesh-based company named Indian Technomac Company Ltd (ITCOL).

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Himachal Pradesh Police CID against ITCOL and its promoters, alleging that its directors, in connivance with staff of various companies and CAs, siphoned off loans availed from a consortium of banks.

ITCOL obtained loans from a consortium led by the Bank of India between 2009 and 2013 by submitting "forged" detailed project reports before the banks and by showing fake sales to dummy/shell companies, the ED said in a statement on Sunday.

The loans obtained by ITCOL were not utilised for the purposes they were sanctioned for, and the "fraud" was to the tune of Rs 1,396 crore, it said.

The federal probe agency had attached assets worth Rs 310 crore in this case earlier, out of which, it has restituted (restored) properties worth Rs 289 crore to the victim banks in April.

ITCOL and its related shell entities "diverted" Rs 59.80 crore into the bank accounts of AMPL, and it is alleged that Dash "knowingly" assisted ITCOL promoter Rakesh Kumar Sharma in utilising these funds for mining activities in Odisha.

During searches, 10 luxury vehicles and three super bikes belonging to Dash and companies beneficially owned by him were seized, the ED statement said. The includes a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes-Benz GLC, a BMW X7, an Audi A3, a Mini Cooper, and a Honda Gold Wing Bike worth more than Rs 7 crore.

Rs 13 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.12 crore have also been seized, while two lockers belonging to Dash have been frozen during the search operation.