ED attaches assets worth Rs. 6.18 cr in PCH Group loan in Hyderabad & Bangalore

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached 11 properties located in Hyderabad and Bangalore, worth Rs. 6.18 crore, in the loan fraud case by Balvinder Singh and his PCH Group of Companies.

ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI, EOW, Chennai, under various sections of the IPC. It was alleged in the CBI charge sheet that PCH Agencies Pvt. Ltd., PCH Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd., Balvinder Singh, and others caused wrongful loss to Punjab and Sind Banks, George Town branch, Chennai, to the tune of Rs. 22.15 crore by availing credit facilities by submitting fabricated documents to show good turnover and illegally diverting the loan funds.

Subsequently, two more FIRs were registered by the CBI, BS, and FC, Bangalore, and EOB Chennai against the PCH companies for committing more loan frauds.

The investigation by ED revealed that the PCH Group had availed loans from various public sector and private banks and failed to repay them. The amounts received as loans were diverted through shell companies with the help of CAs and entry-operators in Hyderabad and Mumbai and received back by the PCH Group for the purpose of showing a false, rosy financial health of the companies to avail further loans.

Loan funds were diverted to more than 77 bogus shell companies without any supply of goods. The rotated funds were shown as unsecured loans and used to project false share capital infusion to increase the shareholding in the PCH Group for the purpose of availing more loans and also for the purpose of an intended IPO.

The investigation has revealed that Balvinder Singh and his wife Baljit Kaur have received over Rs. 71.64 crore and Rs. 11.42 crore, respectively, from various shell entities. All these funds are nothing but siphoned off loan proceeds, the ED said. Part of these proceeds of crime was used to purchase properties in the name of his companies as well as in personal names which were later mortgaged to the banks for availing more credit facilities.

Benami assets in the names of relatives of Balvinder Singh were created with the proceeds of crime. The loan fraud caused a loss of Rs. 747 crore to the banks.

Earlier, Balvinder Singh was arrested by the ED under the PMLA on 8 February 2022. Accordingly, 11 such properties were identified as proceeds of crime and attached.