The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday provisionally attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 170 crore belonging to Purushottam Chhaganlal Mandhana, former Chairman and Managing Director of the erstwhile Mandhana Industries Limited (MIL), and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The attached properties include immovable assets such as residential flats and commercial offices located in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Bengaluru, officials said.
Among the movable properties attached were bank balances of Rs 55 lakh, gold and diamond jewellery valued at Rs 41 lakh, shares, securities, sovereign gold bonds, corporate bonds worth Rs 13 crore, three high-end cars worth Rs 84.5 lakh, and multiple expensive watches valued at Rs 70 lakh, they added.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered by the CBI against Mandhana Industries Ltd (now GB Global Ltd), Purushottam Mandhana, Manish Mandhana, Biharilal Mandhana, and others.
Cases were filed against them following a complaint lodged by Bank of Baroda, alleging that they defrauded a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 975.08 crore.
According to the allegations, Mandhana Industries and its directors conspired to cause financial losses to banks while securing wrongful gains for themselves by diverting loan funds through fraudulent transactions and circular trading. The CBI is yet to file a chargesheet in the case.
It is alleged that Purushottam Mandhana, with an ulterior motive, incorporated numerous fictitious entities in the names of his employees and used them to layer MIL’s funds, including the loan proceeds. To deceive the banks, he orchestrated bogus sales and purchases through various entities.
The financial watchdog’s investigation further revealed that the proceeds of crime were concealed through complex layering and moved multiple times via bank accounts of different fictitious sister concerns of MIL and personal bank accounts of members of the Mandhana family.
A large portion of this illegally generated money was used by the Mandhana family to repay personal debts, invest in the stock market, and purchase immovable properties and jewellery.
The ED probe also revealed that shares of Mandhana Industries Limited were bought and sold through the trading and Demat accounts of various fictitious companies, artificially inflating share prices and misleading banks and shareholders.
Further investigation is ongoing.
