New Delhi [India], July 7 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a residential property in the USA among 22 movable and immovable assets worth Rs 112.90 crore in the case against LEEL Electricals Limited (formerly Lloyd Electric and Engineering Limited), its main promoter Bharat Raj Punj and others.
The USA-based attached asset is based in Houston, Texas, while other attached properties are land, industrial plots and residential premises situated in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Besides, the federal agency attached bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual fund investments.
ED's Jaipur zonal office attached these properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002,
ED investigation has revealed that these assets are beneficially owned and controlled by the promoter family of LEEL Electricals Ltd and were held in their own names and through related and shell entities to conceal the proceeds of crime.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi, under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against LEEL Electricals Ltd, Bharat Raj Punj and other senior officials of the company.
The FIR and the subsequent charge sheet filed by the CBI revealed that the promoters and key managerial personnel of the company entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) by submitting false and manipulated financial statements, thereby causing a wrongful loss of about Rs 376 crore to SBI and IDBI Bank.
"Investigation under the PMLA has revealed that the accused persons orchestrated a well-planned scheme to siphon off bank funds by manipulating the financial records of the company," said the ED in a statement.
"The company's books of accounts were falsified by inflating the value of assets, inventories and receivables to present a misleading financial position and continue availing bank credit facilities."
ED said its investigation further revealed that the diverted funds were routed through a network of promoter-controlled and related companies within India and were also transferred to several overseas subsidiaries under the guise of investments and loans.
A significant portion of these funds, it said, could not be recovered, indicating that the overseas entities were used to divert and conceal the Proceeds of Crime.
"In the final, integration stage of the scheme, the diverted funds were converted into immovable properties held in the names of related companies and promoter family members, several of which were subsequently sold, with the sale proceeds applied towards personal and operational expenses of the promoter family, including to Renu Punj, mother of Bharat Raj Punj."
ED also said that a substantial portion of the diverted funds was routed outside India through the overseas subsidiary structure which was entirely controlled by Bharat Raj Punj. Accordingly, the residential property situated in Texas, USA, owned jointly by Bharat Raj Punj and his wife Pooja Punj, has also been attached, representing the proceeds of crime held outside India.