More than 140 bank accounts have been frozen during raids by investigative agencies at Mandhana Industries.
Mumbai:
Luxury cars such as Mercedes Benz and Lexus, and watch brands such as Rolex and Hublot, besides over 140 bank accounts and safety deposit boxes, were seized after the Public Prosecution Service raided a Mumbai-based business group in an alleged Rs 975-crore bank loan fraud case linked to money laundering.
The searches were carried out on Wednesday against Mandhana Industries Limited (now GB Global Ltd.) and its promoters, the federal agency said in a statement.
The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR filed against the company, its directors Purushottam Mandhana, Manish Mandhana, Biharilal Mandhana and others based on a complaint filed by the Bank of Baroda for allegedly defrauding a consortium of banks of Rs 975.08 crore, according to the statement issued on Thursday.
Mandhana Industries Ltd and its directors hatched a “criminal conspiracy” to cause losses to banks and gain undue benefit for themselves by “diverting” loan funds through fraudulent transactions and circular trading, the company said.
According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the searches led to the discovery of “significant incriminating” documents, including property records.
More than 140 bank accounts, five safety deposit boxes, shares and securities worth Rs 5 crore have been frozen and three luxury cars, including a Lexus and a Mercedes Benz, along with several watches from brands like Rolex and Hublot were seized during the raids. the ED said.
“Several fictitious entities were set up by the directors of Mandhana Industries Ltd. in the name of employees of the company to accumulate funds through the bank accounts of such entities.
“Suspicious transactions were made with third parties to transfer money to the accounts of the promoter/directors and their family members and counterfeit purchases were made against payments to various agencies offering accommodation (hawala), it was alleged.
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