ED searches 10 places in Delhi-NCR, Punjab in ₹988 crore loan fraud case

Central agency searches premises linked to Shilpi Cables and its managing director Manish Goel

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday searched 10 places in Delhi NCR and one in Ludhiana as part of its investigation of a Rs 988 crore bank loan fraud allegedly involving Shilpi Cables Technologies Ltd (SCTL), said a source in the central agency. 

The ED’s action stems from an FIR the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered, said the source. SCTL’s promoters and their associates are accused of cheating and defrauding IDBI Bank and a consortium of other lenders. Investigations allegedly suggest that the accused manipulated letter of credit transactions and routed a significant portion of funds abroad through fictitious trade deals.

 

 

According to the source, the ED is investigating entities and individuals closely linked to the company’s managing director, Manish Goel. Some of these entities are believed to be indirectly controlled by Goel. Premises searched are connected to former office bearers of SCTL, suspected to be involved in fund rotation and cash infusion operations through dummy firms.

   

 

 

“The investigation has revealed that illicit funds were systematically infused into businesses beneficially owned by Goel, with the aim of concealing the proceeds of the crime and projecting them as legitimate,” said the source.

 

Separately, the ED is searching places in Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad in a cybercrime fraud case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The case was initiated based on an FIR registered by the Gujarat Police against Makbul Doctor, Kaashif Doctor, Bassam Doctor, Mahesh Mafatlal Desai, Maaz Abdul Raheem Nada and other associates, according to the source.

 

The ED source added that the accused persons are involved in cheating the general public for more than Rs 100 crore through cyber frauds such as fake USDT trading, digital arrests and threatening people by sending fake notices from law enforcement agencies. Money earned was sent abroad by converting into cryptocurrency through hawala operators.