ED attaches assets worth ₹45.23 cr in bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth ₹45.23 crore in connection with a ₹149.89 crore bank fraud involving Associate High Pressure Technologies.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached four immovable properties worth ₹45.23 crore as part of its investigation into an alleged ₹149.89 crore bank fraud. The attached assets, including three flats in Bandra worth ₹7.84 crore and a plot in Anjar, Gujarat worth ₹37.39 crore are linked with Associate High Pressure Technologies Pvt Ltd (AHPTL), said agency officials.

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The properties belong to Ramchand Kotumal Issrani, Mohamed Farouk Suleman Darvesh and Manoharlal Satramdas Agicha – all promoters/ directors of AHPTL, which allegedly defrauded the Union Bank of India (UBI). ED’s probe is based on a case registered by the CBI against AHPTL under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

ED’s investigation revealed that AHPTL siphoned off a substantial portion of the loan amount received from UBI by way of bogus letters of credit, outstanding export proceeds, and unsecured loans and bogus commission to related entities, said agency sources. The agency had earlier arrested Issrani and Agicha, who are currently in judicial custody. It had also submitted a chargesheet arraying Issrani and AHPTL as accused in October last year.