Port Blair/New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted its first-ever searches in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged cooperative bank loan ‘fraud’ involving a former Congress MP from the Union Territory, official sources said.
Nine places in and around Port Blair and two in Kolkata were raided by the officials of the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
This is the first time that the central agency has undertaken searches under the anti-money laundering law in the Union Territory located in the Bay of Bengal, they said.
The case pertains to the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCB) and its former vice chairman Kuldeep Rai Sharma. Sharma, a 57-year-old Congress leader, is a former MP of the UT (2019-24).
He was arrested by the Andaman and Nicobar Police on July 18 from a local hospital as part of this investigation. A court in Port Blair had sent him to three days police custody on July 29.
Seven others, including an MD and employee of the bank, have been arrested by the police in this case.
The money laundering case stems from a May 15 FIR of the Crime and Economic Offences Wing of the local police.
Sources claimed the agency has recovered some documents pointing to “large-scale” irregularities in the grant of loans and overdraft facilities by ANSC Bank. The role of Sharma is also under the scanner of the ED, according to the sources.
They alleged that a group of about 15 entities/companies were created by suspects for the benefit of Sharma and loan facilities of more than Rs 200 crore were “fraudulently” taken by these entities from the Bank.
The sources said documents collected indicate that loan facilities were extended to various shell companies by “ignoring” the laid down procedures and guidelines of the bank.
A “substantial” portion of these loans were withdrawn in cash and have been paid to the beneficiaries including Sharma, the sources claimed.
Earlier this month, Congress MP and party in-charge of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Manickam Tagore had alleged that the investigation into the alleged scam was politically motivated to defame the party. He had said the Congress has nothing to do with the bank’s affairs.
Those named in the police FIR include the bank’s former board members and directors, apart from some alleged beneficiaries. PTI NES DV DV
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