Loan fraud: ED gets 10 days custody of Narender Kumar Patel

Hyderabad: A Hyderabad special court has sent Narender Kumar Patel, Director of Jay Ambe Gowri Chem Limited, into 10-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate. Patel, who is accused of cheating banks to the tune of Rs 65.39 crore, was arrested on January 16, 2020. He has been on a run since 2015.

State Bank of Bikaner Jaipur declared Jay Ambe Gowri Chem Limited, Narender Kumar Patel, and other directors of the company as willful defaulters of Rs 36.14 crore loan. The accused were responsible for loan frauds of over Rs 100 Crore.

The ED is probing the money laundering on the basis of CBI's FIR under section section 120-B r/w 420, 467, 468 & 471 of IPC, 1860 and 13(2) r/w 13(1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.

Investigation revealed that Narender Kumar Patel had fled to the US along with his family five years back. He was purposefully staying abroad and was enjoying the proceeds of crime.

"Fund trail analysis revealed that accused Narender Kumar Patel had authorized huge foreign outward remittances from the accounts of M/s Jay Ambe Gowri Chem Limited in lieu of import advances and thereafter loans availed from SBI turned into Non-performing assets. It was suspected that in the guise of non-existent imports, he had illegally shifted proceeds of crime abroad for his enjoyment," ED officials said.

ED issued a Look Out Circular against Narender Kumar Patel. On the basis of information shared by ED, he was intercepted and detained by the Indian Immigration Authorities at Ahmedabad International Airport on Saturday and subsequently arrested by ED.

He was brought to Hyderabad and produced before a special court. The investigating agency has been granted 10 days of custody for further interrogation.