ED attaches Rs 43.25 cr assets of Sheetal Refineries, its MD Jitender Agarwal

New Delhi [India], January 27 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 43.25 crore belonging to Sheetal Refineries Ltd and its promoter and Managing Director Jitender Kumar Agarwal for defrauding State Bank of Hyderabad and Punjab National Bank, the agency said on Thursday.
The properties were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. These properties included 15 land assets in Telangana.
ED said the purchase value of these assets is Rs 43.25 crore. With the present attachment of 15 more land properties located in Telangana State, the total attachment, in this case, is Rs 52.78 crore.
In this case, ED said it had earlier attached six immovable properties of the registered value of Rs 8.30 crore and five movable assets worth Rs 1.23 crore.
The ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bengaluru for causing a total loss of Rs 87 crore.
The investigation conducted by the federal agency revealed that the accused promoters availed various credit facilities from SBH and PNB Hyderabad by submitting fabricated financial statements and invoices.
They got Letters of Credit (LCs) issued from lending Banks in the name of related shell entities as if the material is being purchased, said the ED.
"LCs were discounted by the related entities and the money so received was routed back to the promoters of Sheetal Refinery. The company defaulted in payment of LCs on the due date and LCs devolvement caused loss to the Banks. In total Sheetal Refineries owe Rs 146 crore to the Banks, the ED said.
The diverted loan proceeds which are nothing but proceeds of crime were utilised for the purchase of properties and to foreclose older loans and were not used for the stated purposes, said the agency.