ED arrests Agarwal of ARK Imports in NSEL case

Agarwal's ARK Imports is one of the leading defaulters in the NSEL case with a payment default of Rs 719 crore

The Enforcement Director has arrested Kailash Agarwal, director of Ludhiana-based ARK Imports, in the Rs 5,600-crore payment default at National Spot Exchange (NSEL).

Arrested early on Friday from Ludhiana, Agarwal is being brought to Mumbai from Delhi for interrogation. He will be produced before a special court on Saturday where the agency would seek remand from the court. With a payment default of Rs 719 crore, Agarwal’s ARK Imports is one of the leading defaulters in the NSEL case.

This is the second time Agarwal has been arrested by the enforcement agency in the NSEL case. He was earlier arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on August 11, 2014 and released later on bail on September 11, 2014.

Informed sources said EOW has already filed a bail cancellation application in the special MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors) court.

Meanwhile, the enforcement agencies have frozen 23 accounts in various banks operated directly by Agarwal and indirectly through his family members.

The 22 defaulters including ARK Imports had admitted before the erstwhile markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (now merged with Sebi) that they were liable to pay the amount.

On July 20, judge S J Kathawala of the Bombay High Court passed a decree on admission for an amount of Rs 719.37 crore in the case of ARK. With this, the total default amount against which the court has issued decrees stands at Rs 1,233.02 crore.

NSEL has also obtained injunctions to the tune of Rs 3,055.27 crore from 17 defaulters. So, decrees and injunctions worth Rs 4,288.29 crore have been awarded in favour of NSEL for recovery.

Since the NSEL scam broke out in July 2013, enforcement agencies including EOW, ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation have arrested officials of NSEL and its promoter 63 moons technologies (earlier Financial Technologies). These agencies have also attached properties worth thousands of crores of rupees to recover 13,000 investors’ money – Rs 5,600 crore.