The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against Kuldeep Rai Sharma, former Member of Parliament from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and 13 more persons and entities in the Andaman and Nicobar State Co-operative Bank (ANSCBL) case, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday, November 11.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

The ED's Kolkata Zonal Office filed the supplementary prosecution complaint before the Special PMLA Court in Port Blair. With the fresh names, the total number of accused in the case now stands at 52, according to the agency.

The newly named accused, as listed by the ED, include Jayanta Bala, J. Suresh Chandran, who was an empanelled property valuer of the bank, John Robert Babu, Anil Kumar, Md. Ali, P. Abhilash and Kiran Lal N. H., along with their companies.

Rs 121.35 crore in fresh attachments

Alongside the complaint, the ED said it has issued a provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, attaching 35 immovable properties and five movable properties worth around Rs 121.35 crore. The attached assets include land parcels, a hotel, two semi-submarine tourist vessels and bank balances in three bank accounts, the agency said.

The money-laundering investigation began on the basis of an FIR registered by the Crime and Economic Offences Police Station of the Andaman and Nicobar Police against Sharma and others, according to the ED.

What the ED alleges

The ED alleges that Sharma, who was then Vice-Chairman of ANSCBL, along with bank officials and his aides, obtained large loans sanctioned through shell companies in violation of banking rules, and that the loan money was diverted and never repaid. These are the agency's allegations; the matter is before the court.

According to the ED, the accused floated 23 shell companies with no real business, using aides and other persons as dummy directors. It alleges loans of about Rs 301.50 crore were sanctioned to 21 of these companies, and that loans of about Rs 271 crore in 18 of them have turned into non-performing assets.

The agency says the total proceeds of crime identified in the case exceed Rs 500 crore. The supplementary complaint was filed on November 6, according to a second report of the ED statement.

Source: The420