ED attaches land parcels worth ₹52.9 crore in PMC Bank loan fraud case

ED's Mumbai unit attached land worth ₹82.30 crore in PMC bank fraud case. Land parcels acquired for port development, diverted by HDIL promoters.

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s Mumbai zonal unit has attached provisionally land parcels, located at the Vijaydurg village in the state’s Sindhudurg district, for which allegedly ₹82.30 crore from the proceeds of crime in the ₹6,117.93-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) bank loan fraud case were diverted for acquisition by accused firm HDIL’s promoters. The land parcels, measuring around 1,807 acres in all, have a registered value of ₹52.90 crore, according to the agency.

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Though the land parcels, measuring around 1,807 acres in all, were allegedly acquired for the development of a port, the same was not developed, according to ED sources. The attached land parcels were acquired from 2010 to 2013, the agency sources said. The agency had commenced its probe based on a case registered by Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against accused persons including the PMC Bank’s then directors, Joy Thomas and Waryam Singh and HDIL (Housing Development and infrastructure Private Limited)’s promoters Rakesh Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhawan and other unknown persons.

The Mumbai police’s case had accused the HDIL, its promoters and other co-accused persons/ accomplices of defrauding the PMC Bank by causing it a loss of ₹6,117.93 crore in all, wherein the unpaid principal loan sum was ₹2,540.92 crore with accumulated interest of ₹3,577.01 crore, according to ED. It was then alleged that the bank had not carried details in their regulatory reporting to the Reserve Bank of India about certain loans that had been given to HDIL firms and had replaced these loan accounts with fictitious accounts.

ED’s case probe disclosed that during 2010 to 2013, the HDIL promoters allegedly diverted the proceeds of crime worth ₹82.30 crore to the bank accounts of 39 -odd farmers through their subsidiary firms, Privilege Power and Infrastructure Limited and Privilege Hi-Tech Infrastructure Limited, for acquiring the land parcels at Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg. It was alleged that one of the accused promoters, Sarang Wadhawan, had in connivance with his employee, Mukesh Khadpe persuaded the farmers to acquire the land parcels in their names and thereafter transfer the same in the name of HDIL group company in lieu of commission and other benefits, ED sources said.

Cash components allegedly were also used for acquiring the land parcels, the agency said. After the registration of the land parcels, the power -of- attorney documents were allegedly obtained in favour of the HDIL Group company, according to ED. The ED also accused the HDIL promoters of diverting the ₹82.30 of the proceeds of crime from the accounts of the subsidiary HDIL firms to the accounts of the farmers while not intimating the bank about such transactions, the agency sources said.

As part of its probe, the agency has submitted a main chargesheet and two supplementary chargesheets against the two HDIL promoters and 36 other co-accused persons/ entities. Last month, the ED had attached provisionally immovable assets worth ₹43.84 crore, in the form of four floors of a Hyderabad–based hotel, allegedly linked to accused persons in the case. In February, the ED had also attached provisionally immovable properties worth around ₹13.20 crore in the case. The attachments were in the form of shops at a Pune mall. ED has till now attached provisionally assets worth ₹719.11 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.