NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JULY 13
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over Rs 204 crore of a Gujarat-based company in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to an alleged bank fraud case, the agency said on Monday.
It said the action has been taken against Ardor Group of Companies and their properties located in Ahmedabad and Surat have been frozen after a provisional order for attachment of assets was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The firm and its directors are being probed for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks, led by Bank of India, for over Rs 480 crore.
The properties that have been attached in Ahmedabad are a commercial office at S G Highway in Thaltej, a residential plot in the Satellite area, five residential plots at Ambli, 17 residential plots at Gokul Dham, four shops at Bodakdev, and offices at Ellisbridge and Ashram Road. A non-agricultural land that has been attached as part of the order is located in Surat.
The total value of the attached properties is Rs 204.27 crore and these properties are part of proceeds of crime generated on this case, the ED said in a statement.
The central probe agency booked Ardor Group of Companies and its directors under the PMLA after studying six CBI FIRs filed against them.
The CBI FIRs said the directors “in connivance with unknown bank officials have cheated and caused wrongful loss to the consortium of banks (led by Bank of India) amounting to Rs 488 crore”.
The ED said its probe found that Bharat Shah, Fenil Shah, and Geetaben Shah were the directors of Ardor International Ltd, Ardor Global Pvt Ltd, and Chem Edge International Pvt Ltd and they “indulged in the circular routing of funds received out of credit limit sanctioned by the consortium of banks to inflate the financials of the companies for increasing the credit facilities.”
“They also diverted and mis-utilised the funds received from the consortium for purposes other than for which the credit facilities were sanctioned,” the ED alleged.
The directors of the group have also been alleged to have “mortgaged assets of other group companies for availing higher credit limits.”
“False stock statements and financials were submitted to the consortium of banks. Ardor Group of Companies did not repay the amount owed to the consortium of banks resulting in accounts becoming NPA (non-performing assets),” it said.
