The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on June 20 at 35 locations across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Nagpur related to the Amtek Group and its directors, who are accused of a massive bank loan fraud exceeding Rs 20,000 crore.
The raids targeted the business and residential premises of the Amtek Group and its directors, including Arvind Dham and Gautam Malhotra. The searches began early in the morning in various locations including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, and Nagpur.
This investigation was initiated after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against ACIL Limited, an entity of the Amtek Group. The FIR alleges a bank fraud of over Rs 20,000 crore involving multiple listed firms. These firms were eventually taken over in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) proceedings at a nominal price, leaving the consortium of banks with minimal recovery.
In March 2024, the Supreme Court also instructed the law enforcement agency to investigate the case. According to ED sources, the fraud has caused a loss of about Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 crore to the exchequer.
The ED suspects that the loan funds were siphoned off for investments in real estate, foreign investments, and new ventures. The group allegedly showed bogus sales, capital assets, debtors, and profits in their accounts to secure more loans, avoiding the non-performing assets (NPA) tag.
The investigation revealed that shares of listed companies were manipulated, and the books of account were falsified to obtain higher loans with the collusion of auditors and professionals. Thousands of crores in assets are believed to have been parked in the names of shell companies, foreign assets were created, and money is still parked under new names through benami directors and shareholders.
As the investigation continues, further details are expected to emerge on the extent of the alleged fraud and the involvement of the Amtek Group’s directors.
