New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has so far identified properties and assets worth over Rs 3,830 crore in the Punjab Maharashtra Cooperative Bank fraud case, which the agency has pegged to be at around Rs 4,355 crore, officials here said on Monday. They said that these assets belong to Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), its Directors, officials of the PMC Bank and other related parties in the massive bank fraud case.
In addition to attaching several luxury vehicles, including two aircraft parked at the Mumbai International Airport, one 88-feet long Yacht, and over 10 luxury cars, which include the like of Rolls Royce, Bentley and Range Rover, the ED has identified a who lot of other properties and assets that are now part of the proceeds of crime.
The ED began its probe in the case based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police, according to which Directors of HDIL, namely Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan had conspired with PMC Bank officials to fraudulently acquire large amounts of loans and then siphon them off for their own personal gain.
After initiating the probe, ED officials conducted massive raids at several locations related to the Wadhawans, HDIL and PMC Bank officials, who were purportedly in on the scam, from where incriminating documents relating to how proceeds of crime were generated and then laundered were recovered.
A statement issued by the financial probe agency said that documents related to 2,112 acres of land have been discovered from raids at different locations related to the accused in the case and that the total value of this land exceeds Rs 3,000 crore. Moreover, the ED has identified three flats worth Rs 8.2 crore in Mumbai's Pali Hill, 160 acres of land at Sindhurdurg worth Rs 125 crore, 72 acres of land in Hyderabad worth Rs 70 crore acquired by My Place Society - a company where HDIL owns 55 percent stake, 89 acres of land in Greater Noida worth Rs 110 crore related to the Yamuna Expressway Project, a Rs 110 crore bungalow in Mumbai, two lavish farmhouses worth around Rs 160 crore and two properties in the name of Wadhawans in the UAE and UK.
In addition to these assets valued at around Rs 3,800 crore, the ED has also identified 80 unencumbered properties in and around Mumbai, where the HDIL has work in progress. Officials here said that the documents related to these properties are currently being scrutinised for the purpose of valuation.
Furthermore, fixed deposits worth over Rs 10 crore have also been frozen by the ED in connection with the case, parts of which were held in the name of Waryam Singh, an employee of the PMC Bank, alleged to be part of the bank fraud case.
ED officials here also said that a large tranche of around Rs 98 crore, fraudulently acquired through a loan from PMC Bank was also diverted to one M Estate Developers, a proprietorship concern owned by one of Rakesh Wadhawan's close associate. Meanwhile, the RBI on Monday enhanced withdrawal limit to Rs 40,000 per account from Rs 25,000 per account earlier for six months. This is the third time the regulator has increased the withdrawal limit since it clamped down on PMC Bank on September 23.