ED files chargesheet against ex UCO Bank CMD Goel; attaches Rs 106-cr assets

New Delhi: A chargesheet has been filed against arrested former UCO bank CMD Subodh Kumar Goel and his family members, and his properties worth Rs 106 crore have been attached under the anti-money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday. Goel was arrested by the federal probe agency in May from his home in Delhi in an alleged bank loan fraud case of more than Rs 6,200 crore linked to a Kolkata-based TMT bars supplying company named Concast Steel & Power Ltd. (CSPL). He is currently lodged in a Kolkata jail under judicial custody

Movable and immovable assets of Goel worth Rs 106.36 crore were attached as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on July 9, the agency said in a statement. It added that a fresh chargesheet was also filed before a special PMLA court in Kolkata on July 11, and Goel, his family members, close aides and related companies have been named as accused. The former UCO Bank boss was arrested for playing a "substantial" role in sanctioning loans of more than Rs 1,460 crore to CSPL, which later on turned into an NPA (non-performing asset). "In lieu of sanctioning loans to CSPL, Goel received substantial illegal gratifications in the form of cash, immovable properties, luxury goods and services routed through a web of shell companies," the ED said. Evidence, it alleged, also shows the use of accommodation entries (hawala transactions) and structured layering through front companies for systematic settlement of kickbacks, it said. A Chartered Accountant (CA) named Anant Kumar Agarwal, an alleged close associate of Goel, was also arrested by the agency in June for "facilitating accommodation entries, managing shell entities, and routing illegally acquired cash." Agarwal, too, is lodged in jail at present. With the latest attachment, the total freezing of assets in the case stands at Rs 612.71 crore, according to the ED.