ED Attaches Amtek Group Assets Worth Rs 557 Crore in Bank Fraud Case

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Fresh assets worth more than Rs 550 crore of an insolvent automotive equipment manufacturing company were provisionally attached on Wednesday under the anti-money-laundering law in an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 27,000 crore, the ED said.

The action was taken against Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL limited, Metalyst Forging Limited, Castex Technologies Limited and Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham, apart from some others, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

Properties worth Rs 5,115.31 crore were attached by the agency in the case last September.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the Supreme Court on February 27, 2024, ordered it to probe into a Rs 27,000-crore "bank fraud" case by the Amtek Auto Group.

The ED arrested Dham as part of the investigation and a chargesheet was filed against him last September.

"The court (Supreme Court) expressed concerns regarding the diversion of public money, emphasising the necessity of a comprehensive investigation by the ED, even if the banks concerned had settled the accounts," the ED said in its statement.

"It was also noted there were FIRs registered by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) arising from the complaints by IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra under various sections of IPC (Indian Penal Code) and Prevention of Corruption Act on allegations of illegally diverting bank loans by causing wrongful loss to the banks," it added.

The probe found that the above-mentioned companies, along with other group concerns, were taken to insolvency, whose resolution led to a haircut of more than 80 per cent for the banks, causing "substantial" losses to these public sector financial institutions.

The financial statements of group companies were "deceitfully manipulated" to obtain additional fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments in books of accounts, the agency alleged.

The provisionally-attached assets include 145 acres of land in Rajasthan and Punjab, some properties in Delhi-NCR valued in total at Rs 342 crore, apart from fixed deposits and bank balances worth Rs 112.5 core.

Investments of some "notorious" Mumbai-based stock market operators involved in securities fraud through listed companies of Amtek Group, third-party assets that had proceeds of crime from the Amtek Group's real estate verticals, assets of an Amtek company under "fraudulent" insolvency proceedings and assets alienated before initiation of insolvency proceedings have also been attached, it said.

The attachment also includes shares, mutual funds and investment in AIFs (alternate investment funds) valued at Rs 123.9 crore.

All the Amtek assets are identified as "direct proceeds of crime" and are held through several companies beneficially owned by Dham and assets of Amtek companies held by bankers who sanctioned the loans, according to the ED.