Bank fraud: ED attaches Rs 5.4-cr assets in Gujarat pharma firm case

The Enforcement Directorate said Saturday it has attached assets worth Rs 5.4 crore in connection with its probe in an alleged Rs 5,700-crore bank loan fraud case linked to a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company.

The attached immovable properties, one each in Faridabad and Gurgaon, belong to Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, who was arrested by the ED and is out on bail.

A provisional order for attachment of the assets was issued by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

A similar order was passed against Dhawan by the agency in the past.

The case relates to a money laundering case registered against the Sandesara brothers Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and their Vadodara-based firm Sterling Biotech Limited and others on October 27 last year, two days after a case of bank fraud of Rs 5,700 crore and corruption was filed against them by the CBI.

"Dhawan is accused of assisting and facilitating Nitin and Chetan Sandesara, directors and promoters of Sterling Biotech group, who are accused in the said bank loan fraud case," the central probe agency said in a statement.

Investigation has revealed that Rs 5.4 crore was diverted from loan funds by Sandersara brothers and others and were subsequently given to Dhawan, it said.

"Dhawan utilised these proceeds of crime to purchase and develop the said attached properties," it said.

The businessman, it said, was "actively involved in the offence of money laundering."