ED raids Amtek Group over ₹20,000 crore bank fraud case
What's the story
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted raids at 35 locations across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Nagpur. These raids are linked to the Amtek Group and its directors, which include Arvind Dham and Gautam Malhotra. They are accused of an alleged bank loan fraud exceeding ₹20,000 crore. The ED conducted searches at both business as well as residential premises in these cities early morning.
Case development
ED's investigation follows CBI's FIR against Amtek
The investigation was initiated after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against a group entity of Amtek-ACIL Limited. The directors are accused of committing bank fraud in several listed firms that were later acquired in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) proceedings at nominal prices. This led to minimal recovery for the consortium of banks. The Supreme Court had also directed the law enforcement agency to investigate the case in March 2024.
Fraud details
Amtek Group's alleged misuse of loan funds
According to ED sources, this fraud resulted in a loss of approximately ₹10,000-15,000 crore to the exchequer. The agency suspects that loan funds were "siphoned off" to invest in real estate, foreign investment, and investment in new ventures. The group allegedly inflated sales, debtors, capital assets, and profits to secure extra loans, and to avoid being classified as non-performing assets (NPA).
Financial irregularities
ED uncovers Amtek's alleged financial manipulations
The ED's investigation has uncovered that assets worth thousands of crores, have been allegedly parked under shell companies' names. A large number of foreign assets have been created, and money is still parked under new names, via benami directors and shareholders. The agency continues to probe the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).