ED to seek Fugitive Economic Offender tag, red corner for Sandesaras, aides

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will move court to initiate action against the two Sandesara brothers and two of their aides -- Dipti, and Hitesh Kumar Patel -- under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Law, according to an Economic Times report. The four are accused in a money laundering case involving Sterling Biotech. A Red Corner Notice with respect to the company's promoters shall also be issued, said the ED.

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a chargesheet under the anti-money laundering law against Sandesara brothers and their Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech Limited (SBL) in the fraudulent Rs 81-billion loan from domestic as well as offshore branches of Indian banks during 2004-2012.

The ED named 191 accused and 184 companies of the SBL group in the chargesheet filed in a special court. The SBL group include Sterling Biotech Limited, PMT Machines Limited, Sterling SEZ and Infra Limited, Sterling Port Limited, Sterling Oil Resources Limited and 179 shell companies.

Some individuals named in the chargesheet include main promoters of SBL group -- Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara -- Dipti Sandesara, Rajbhushan Dixit, Hitesh Patel, their chartered accountant Hemant Hathi and middlemen Gagan Dhawan.

Investigation in ED revealed that Sandesaras brothers and others hatched a criminal conspiracy for cheating banks by manipulating figures in the balance sheets of their flagship companies and induced banks to sanction higher loans.

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it is investigating "public officials" for suspected bribery of about Rs 1.4 billion in connection with the alleged bank loan fraud, the agency told news agency PTI.

The agency said the investigation in this aspect is under process as it filed a fresh charge sheet in the case of Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech group before a special court.

The central agency said its probe in the case has "revealed that the loan funds were diverted for non-mandated purposes to shell companies and were withdrawn as cash.

"Cash to the tune of Rs 1.4 billion was withdrawn from shell companies and were used for the personal purposes of the promoters which also includes bribing of public officials," the ED said in a statement.

The ED and the CBI are already probing the role of three senior Income Tax Department officers in this case after diary notings purportedly referring to their names were seized and the name of few more government officials is under the scanner, a senior official said.

The name of CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, currently embroiled in a tussle with his Director Alok Verma, has also been linked in this case after diary notings with initials "RA" were seized.

Asthana has, however, not been named by either the ED or CBI in their respective FIRs filed in this case.