ED files supplementary prosecution complaint in Amtek Auto bank fraud case

ED files supplementary complaint naming 56 accused in Amtek Auto fraud involving loan diversion, stock manipulation, and asset concealment, with Rs 6,261 crore attached

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that it has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint in connection with the ongoing investigation into the multi-thousand crore bank fraud involving Amtek Auto Group and its associate companies.

 

The complaint was filed before the Special PMLA Court at Rouse Avenue in New Delhi.

 

The supplementary complaint expands the scope of prosecution to cover the roles of promoters, senior management, auditors, bankers, resolution professionals, and stock market operators in what the ED describes as a complex web of loan fraud, market manipulation, and asset concealment.

 

According to the ED, the complaint, filed on August 1, names 56 accused, including Group promoter Arvind Dham, his family members, chartered accountants, bankers, resolution professionals, and Mumbai-based stock market operators.

   

The court issued notices to all the accused on August 7 under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

 

The ED probe, launched on the directions of the Supreme Court in February 2024, is based on CBI FIRs filed on the basis of complaints by IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. 

 

Investigators allege that the Group fraudulently diverted loans from public sector banks, manipulated fixed asset valuations, and engaged in criminal misappropriation. Chartered accountants in the case are accused of filing false audit reports, while bankers allegedly sanctioned loans for undue benefits and “evergreened” credit facilities without following RBI norms, resulting in a spike in non-performing assets.

 

The ED has also linked the Group to stock price manipulation of Castex Technologies Ltd, allegedly using siphoned bank funds to hire Mumbai-based operators to rig share prices, defrauding foreign portfolio investors of nearly ₹1,000 crore.

 

Following massive defaults, 15 companies of the Group went into insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, with lenders taking an average haircut of 81 per cent — recovering only ₹6,300 crore of total admitted claims exceeding ₹34,000 crore. The agency alleged that before insolvency, promoters had moved assets through undervalued transfers to front entities and created nearly 500 shell companies to conceal properties worth over ₹6,000 crore.

 

According to the investigative agency, ED has so far attached assets worth ₹6,261.37 crore, including earlier attachments of ₹5,115.31 crore in September 2024 — most valued at book or circle rates, with the market value believed to be much higher.