ED arrests absconding bank loan fraudster

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested an absconding accused Narender Kumar Patel, the director of Jay Ambe Gowri Chem, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a bank fraud case for cheating the State Bank of India (SBI) to the tune of Rs 65.39 crores.

The accused was produced in the PMLA Special Court, Nampally, Hyderabad and the Special Judge was pleased to grant 10 days of ED custody of Patel, up to January 2021, according to an official release.

Investigation under PMLA revealed that State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur had also declared Jay Ambe Gowri Chem Limited, Patel and other directors of the dompany as "wilful defaulters" to the tune of Rs 36.14 crores.

Further, FIR dated March 31, 2016, was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Economic Offences Wing, Chennai based on a Complaint dated March 30, 2016, filed by Exim Bank.

Neither the company nor its Directors repaid the loan to EXIM Bank, thereby causing a loss of Rs 30.76 crore to EXIM Bank, the release said.

It was further revealed that Jay Ambe Gowri Chem Limited also availed a loan of Rs 8 crore from Development Credit Bank Limited which is also not yet paid. Thus, the accused and its company were responsible for loan frauds of an amount in excess of Rs 100 crore.

"Patel had deliberately absconded since 2015 and had fled the country along with his family and was residing in the USA. He escaped almost five years back and could not be interrogated by the CBI," as per the investigation.

In 2020, ED issued a Look Out Circular (LoC) against Patel. On the basis of information shared by ED, he was intercepted and detained by the Indian Immigration Authorities at Ahmedabad International Airport and subsequently arrested by the ED.

The custodial interrogation and further investigation are underway, the ED said.

( With inputs from ANI )