NT Reporter
Panaji
The Enforcement Directorate’s Panaji zonal office has conducted search operations at six premises in Goa under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with Rs 6.19 crore alleged loan fraud case involving Crown Mineral Trading Corporation (CMTC) and its partners.
The ED said that during the search operations Rs 67.50 lakh in cash, incriminating documents, including property sale deeds, and digital devices were seized.
Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 2.86 crore belonging to partners of CMTC, under the PMLA.
According to the ED, the money laundering investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI, Goa, against the CMTC partners and others.
The ED said the FIR was registered pursuant to a complaint filed by Canara Bank alleging that the partners of CMTC, a firm purportedly engaged in trading of raw iron ore, fraudulently obtained a credit facility of Rs 7.00 crore from its Margao branch.
Due to default in repayment, the loan was classified as a non-performing asset with an outstanding of Rs 6.19 crore.
The probe agency said the investigation has revealed that CMTC did not have any actual business and the loans taken from Canara Bank were diverted to personal bank accounts of its partners. Forged yearly stock statements were submitted to the bank to ensure the renewal and continuation of the cash credit limit, the ED said.
“The probe further revealed that the same properties mortgaged with Canara Bank were simultaneously kept mortgaged with other banks, including Madgaum Urban Co-operative Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Karnataka Bank, and Bank of Baroda, to fraudulently obtain additional loans of Rs 10.02 crore,” the ED said.
According to the ED, the accused in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy executed multiple sale deeds for the same properties and furnished different sets of these deeds to different banks to secure credit, thereby concealing, disguising, and projecting the proceeds of crime as untainted.
