ED's first-ever raids in Andaman & Nicobar linked to cooperative bank fraud

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted its first-ever searches in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged cooperative bank loan 'fraud' involving a former MP from the Union Territory, official sources said.

The case pertains to the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCB) and its vice chairman Kuldeep Rai Sharma. Sharma, a 57-year-old Congress leader, is a former MP of the UT (2019-24).

Nine places in and around Port Blair and two in Kolkata were raided by the officials of the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

This is the first time that the agency has undertaken searches in the Union Territory located in the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Sources said the agency has recovered some documents pointing towards "large-scale" irregularities in the grant of loans and overdraft facilities by ANSC Bank.

The role of former Congress MP Sharma is also under the scanner of the ED, according to the sources.

They alleged that a group of about 15 entities/companies were created by suspects for the benefit of Sharma and loan facilities of more than Rs 200 crore were fraudulently taken by these entities from the ANSCB.

The sources said documents collected indicate that loan facilities were extended to various shell companies/ firms by ignoring the laid down procedures and guidelines of the bank.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Crime and Economic Offences Wing of the Andaman Nicobar Police.