Ghanshyamdas loan fraud case: Hyderabad ED restitutes Rs 2.55 crore worth properties to PNB

Hyderabad: In the case against city-based jeweller Ghanshyamdas Gems and Jewels and its Managing Partner (MP) Sanjay Agarwal, the Hyderabad Enforcement Directorate has reinstated five previously attached immovable properties to pay back Punjab National Bank.

The value of the assets is said to be Rs 2.55 crore. The properties include agricultural lands in Ranga Reddy and Medak districts. The present market value is Rs 16 crore.

The Nampally PMLA Court, in an order dated January 19, allowed the restitution petition filed by Punjab National Bank, thereby paving the way for the restoration of attached assets.

What is the loan fraud case about?

The ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR dated registered by the CBI, BS&FC, Bengaluru, against Ghanshyamdas Gems and Jewels and its partners for fraudulently inducing SBI into releasing 250 kg of gold on the strength of forged bank guarantees submitted by Sanjay Agarwal, purportedly issued by PNB.

The probe revealed that when the news of the fraud became public, Sanjay Agarwal and his brothers Ajay Kumar and Vinay Kumar removed the entire stock of gold from their shop at Abids and sold it in the local market for cash.

Fake passport and benamis

This stock was mortgaged to PNB. The Proceeds of Crime generated by the sales were later invested in a new firm opened in December 2012 by Sanjay Agarwal in his wife’s name.

Later, he also opened three more firms in the names of his brothers and one of his employees. Substantial unexplained cash deposits were found in multiple bank accounts opened in the names of his family members and firms controlled by him.

Moreover, the investigation revealed that Sanjay Agarwal had obtained a passport on a fake identity of ‘Srikanth Gupta’ and travelled abroad several times and opened multiple bank accounts for layering his ill-got money.

The money trail further led the ED officials to a benami property acquired in the name of one of his employees, Avinash Soni.

ED arrested Sanjay Agarwal on February 11, 2022, and provisionally attached nine immovable properties belonging to Sanjay Agarwal, his family members and benamis. ED filed a Prosecution Complaint on April 11, 2022, before the Special PMLA Court, Nampally, Hyderabad.

Punjab National Bank was asked to file the restitution application under Section 8(8) of the PMLA, 2002, before the Nampally PMLA Court. ED conveyed concurrence for restitution of immovable properties attached by it so that such attached properties could be restored to the victim of the fraud, i.e. Punjab National Bank.