Srinagar: ED attaches immovable properties worth Rs 10.63 crore in PMEGP loan fraud case
Srinagar, Nov 9 (TNT): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 11 immovable properties worth Rs 10.63 crore in connection with an alleged loan fraud involving the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme in Jammu and Kashmir.
The properties, comprising land and buildings in Srinagar and Bandipora districts of Kashmir, were found to be in the possession of suppliers-cum-brokers, bank officials and others allegedly involved in the misuse of the government scheme, the Agency said in a statement on Monday.
The attachment was carried out by the ED’s Srinagar Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Srinagar, alleging misappropriation of PMEGP loan amounts through criminal conspiracy between beneficiaries, bank officials of J&K Bank’s Sumbal and Gamud Gadhkhud branches and other persons.
The accused allegedly cheated the bank by projecting dummy PMEGP borrowers, using fake invoices of non-existent firms and entering into criminal conspiracies with bank officials and suppliers-cum-brokers to divert loan funds for personal gains.
During the investigation, the ED found that 270 term loan accounts and an equal number of working capital accounts linked to the two J&K Bank branches had turned non-performing assets (NPAs), involving an amount of Rs 32 crore.
The agency further found that proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 11.37 crore were diverted through multiple bank accounts and utilised for construction and renovation of assets and personal enrichment.
According to the ED, Hilal Ahmad Wani and others played a major role in facilitating fraudulent PMEGP loans by inducing borrowers to obtain loans using KYC documents and other records of non-existent firms registered in the names of suppliers-cum-brokers or their family members.
The investigation also revealed that a substantial portion of the proceeds of crime was siphoned off through multiple accounts and used to acquire properties in the names of family members, the agency said.
The 11 identified assets have been provisionally attached to safeguard the value of the proceeds of crime under Section 5(1) of the PMLA.
Further investigation is under progress, the ED added.
TNT KM
