ED attaches assets worth Rs 12 cr of Pune group in bank loan fraud case

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 2 : Directorate of Enforcement (ED) attached 12 immovable properties, located at Nagpur, Pune, Ratnagiri and Goa worth Rs 12.80 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 in the money laundering investigation against Bank loan fraud by Varron Group of Industries, officials said on Tuesday.

ED initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of 3 FIRs registered by CBI against the Varron Group and its promoter Late SP Sawaikar in a loan fraud case amounting to more than Rs 3000 crore.

"ED investigation has revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by Late S.P Sawaikar, promoter of the Varron with Bank officials to fraudulently discount 246 forged bills backed by the Letter of Credit (LC) of approx. Rs 300 crore opened by Canara Bank, Deccan Gymkhana Branch, Pune on behalf of M/s Varron Aluminium Pvt Ltd (VAPL)," ED said in a statement.

"However, there was no real movement of the goods and the amounts were diverted to pay off older loans and the LCs got devolved later on causing loss to the Bank of India. The earlier loan accounts were not serviced regularly and the loan proceeds were diverted for other than the stated purposes and amounts were utilized to create landed assets in the name of the promoters and also to create benami assets," it added.

Earlier, ED had attached proceeds of crime worth Rs 166.47 Crore in the same matter on May 25, 2021, and a Prosecution Complaint was filed before the PMLA Court, Mumbai on February 6, 2023. The total attachment in this fraud has reached Rs 179.27 Crore.

Further investigation is under progress.