Bank fraud: ED attaches 75 properties of Surana Group

New Delhi [India], August 2 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached 75 immovable properties including 67 windmills, valued at Rs 113.32 crore in total, of Chennai-based Surana Group of Companies under the provisions of the Money Laundering Act.
The action is in connection with the three cases of bank fraud involving Rs 3986 crore of Principal Outstanding Amount to the Public Sector Banks., said the ED.
ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of three FIRs by the Central Bureau of Investigation, BF and SB, Bengaluru registered against M/s Surana Industries Limited and Others, M/s Surana Power Limited and Others, and M/s Surana Corporation Limited and Others.
Based on the investigations conducted as detailed above, 67 windmills with land valued at Rs 51.69 Crore and various immovable properties valued at Rs 61.63 Crore of Shri Ramlal Jain, who amalgamated the Proceeds of Crime into his regular business and totally valued at Rs 113.32 Crore were provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA.
The other immovable properties valued at Rs 61.63 crore belong to Ramlal Jain, who amalgamated the proceeds of the crime into his regular business.
Investigations have revealed that these three companies of Surana Group have defrauded the banks by floating a web of shell companies wherein they appointed its employees/ relatives as Directors/ Proprietors/ Partners and indulged in paper transactions with them without actual movement of goods, the credit capital of the banks were round tripped/ layered to the personal accounts of the promoters of the company by projecting the bank funds as unsecured loans from their associate shell companies and same funds were then subsequently infused in the main Group Companies as part of the Promoters contribution to enhance the DP limits.
It was also revealed during investigations that Surana Group has companies in Cayman Island as well as the British Virgin Islands in the name of dummy directors and siphoned off money to park in those companies.
For the said purpose, they established four companies in Singapore and exported goods to them and the money receivable from them was written off in the book of accounts in India. Further, some diverted funds were used to purchase movable/ immovables properties in the names of various benami persons/ companies.
These actions of the Promoters/ officials of the Surana Group led to the accounts becoming irregular which ultimately led to accounts becoming NPA and leading to an amount of Rs 3986 Crore as the Principal Outstanding amount to the banks.
Based on the investigations conducted, Shri Dinesh Chand Surana, MD of M/s Surana Industries Limited and M/s Surana Power Ltd, Shri Vijay Raj Surana, MD of M/s Surana Corporation Limited, and two dummy directors of shell companies viz. Shri P Anand and Shri I Prabhakaran, was arrested on July 12. The Hon'ble Principal Session Judge at Chennai remanded them to Judicial Custody.
Further Investigation is underway into the matter.