As part of its ongoing probe against a massive ₹754.24 crore bank fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Monday launched a series of raids on properties of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader former Uttar Pradesh MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari. According to sources with knowledge of the matter, it was conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
It was in ten locations across Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai. Gangotri Enterprises Ltd is a company of Tiwari, the promoter, which allegedly took credit of ₹1,129.44 crore from a consortium of seven banks led by the Bank of India.
The loans taken by Gangotri Enterprises were not utilized by them as intended, the ED said. However, the company’s promoters, directors and such guarantors allegedly fraudulently diverted, misappropriated and siphoned off the funds, says the agency. The report reports that the misuse of funds caused a wrongful loss of over ₹754 crore to the consortium of the banks.
It is not the first ED action in this case. Earlier, the agency had attached assets worth ₹102.94 crore of Gangotri Enterprises and persons with their links in the alleged fraud. In that case, he also attached immovable properties and other assets that were believed to be related to the proceeds of crime.
An MLA and a well-known political person of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Vinay Shankar Tiwari also has the fame of his political family in the region. It is no surprise that politicians have become another prominent casualty in the mounting list of financial investigations and that misuse of the banking system is yet another sore point in the country.
The ED is investigating further the flow of the funds and the people involved in the alleged scam.
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