ED arrests two for defrauding banks, money laundering

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has arrested two persons in separate cases for running shell companies and funnelling funds abroad.

"G. Dhananjaya Reddy, an engineering graduate from Bengaluru, was arrested for floating more than 20 shell companies and obtaining loans through dubious means," an agency official told IANS.

Reddy was arrested for defrauding United Bank of India of Rs 70 crore by "submitting forged or fake documents and by impersonation".

"He submitted forged documents of several immovable properties as third-party collaterals to the banks and got loans sanctioned in the name of various shell companies.

Reddy has three money laundering cases registered against him.

He routed the money to shell companies abroad and did "round tripping of funds" to evade taxes.

Reddy was presented in a Bengaluru court dealing with Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases and sent to two days' ED custody.

In the second case, K. Liakath Ali was arrested from Chennai under the PMLA Act for remitting foreign exchange through shell companies by using fake documents.

"He was involved in cheating Indian Bank, Thousand Lights Branch, Chennai, using eight shell companies and remitted $11,778,120 (Rs 78 crore) out of India, against forged Bill of Entries without effecting any actual imports," the official said.

Ali was arrested following a bank alert and a subsequent raid at his house by customs officials.

The official said Ali and his brother Eliyas Peer Mohamed masterminded the fraud by opening fictitious accounts in the names of shell companies like Galaxy Impex, Green International, and Snow City and Company.

--IANS

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