Bank fraud case: ED attaches shares worth ₹81cr owned by Ludhiana textile firm

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday provisionally attached moveable assets in the form of shares worth ₹81.03 crore owned by Ludhiana-based SEL Textiles Limited in a bank fraud case

Jalandhar : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday provisionally attached moveable assets in the form of shares worth ₹81.03 crore owned by Ludhiana-based SEL Textiles Limited in a bank fraud case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday provisionally attached moveable assets in the form of shares worth ₹81.03 crore owned by Ludhiana-based SEL Textiles Limited in a bank fraud case.

The movable assets include 36,92,930 preference shares of Rythm Textiles & Apparel Park Limited and 40,41,000 equity shares of Silverline Corporation Limited.

An ED official said both these companies are controlled by Neeraj Saluja, one of the accused in the case, who was arrested by the ED on January 18 and is currently in judicial custody.

The probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, against SEL Textiles Limited, late Ram Saran Saluja, Neeraj Saluja, Dhiraj Saluja and others for causing wrongful loss to a consortium of 10 banks, led by the Central Bank of India, to the tune of ₹1,531 crore by illegally diverting the loan amount for the purposes other than it was sanctioned.

The ED investigation revealed that SEL Textiles Limited and its directors had generated proceeds of crime by fraudulently diverting the part of loan amount availed from consortium of bank to its related entities Rythm Textiles and Apparels Park Limited and Silverline Corporation Limited in violation of terms and conditions of loan availed.

On January 12, the ED had carried out searches under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, at 14 premises of SEL Textiles Limited and related persons and entities in Ludhiana and Nawanshahr district and seized ₹60 lakh in cash along with incriminating documents and digital evidence.

Earlier, during the course of investigation, assets valued at ₹829 crore, including land and machinery as well as plant and building located at four locations in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.