ED provisionally attaches Nathella Sampath Jewelry's properties worth Rs 328 cr

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has provisionally attached 37 immovable properties worth about Rs 328 crore of Nathella Sampath Jewelry Private Ltd, its Promoters-cum-Directors and others.

The properties were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in a case related to bank loan fraud.

In a statement issued here, the ED said it carried out investigations based on a first information report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April after the State Bank of India (SBI) made a complaint against the jewellery company.

The company is engaged in sale of gold/silver jewellery, silver articles and jewellery made of precious and semi-precious stones.

The SBI had alleged that the promoters of Nathella Sampath Jewelry have been misrepresenting and falsifying its books of accounts and financial statements for the purpose of availing credit facilities from the lenders with a clear criminal and malafide intent to cheat and defraud the lenders.

According to ED statement, the promoters of Nathella Sampath Jewelry and other accused have caused wrongful loss of about Rs 380 crore as on February 1, 2018 to the consortium of banks.

During investigations, it was noticed that, the stocks reported to banks were at about Rs 495 crore as on March 31, 2017.

However, as per the forensic audit conducted, the actual stocks as on March 31, 2017 could only be about Rs 31 crore. Similarly, the sales reported for 2016-17 were Rs 1,517 crore where as actual sales as per forensic audit were about Rs 157 crore, the ED said.

Similar is the case with purchases, which were reported at Rs 1,591 crore as against the actual figure of Rs 61 crore.

The ED said investigations revealed the company promoters through their family companies and trusts routed and layered the crime proceeds and thus they have been found to have indulged in the offence of money laundering.

--IANS

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