Blackmoney: 2 bizmen sent to 10-day ED custody

NEW DELHI: Two directors of a firm were today sent to ED custody for ten days in a money-laundering case related to alleged cheating of a large number of banks to the tune of Rs 2,240 crore.

The directors of the Surya Vinayak Industries Limited, Sanjay Jain and Rajiv Jain, were produced before Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit who sent them to ED custody after the Enforcement Directorate said they were needed for further custodial interrogation.

The accused were arrested by the probe agency on August 22 and sent to three-day ED custodial by the court. Later, they were sent to judicial custody for three days.

The accused were recently granted bail in a separate CBI case related to the matter.

Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for ED, today sought 14-day custody and told the court that their interrogation was required to unearth the money trail.

The counsel said both the directors were not cooperating with the investigation and were required to be confronted with one another as well as with the incriminating documents.

It was alleged that the accused, along with two others, used more than 100 shell companies for routing and diverting the bank funds. The firm and the shell companies had no genuine business transactions, the agency alleged.

The company had allegedly diverted bank funds to the tune of Rs 2,240 crore, which resulted in loss to the consortium of banks. Over Rs 300 crore of working capital was also allegedly moved to six companies set abroad, the agency said.

The case was registered by the CBI on the complaint of Punjab National Bank (PNB) alleging that the accused were using over 100 shell companies for routing and diverting the bank funds.

In its complaint, the PNB had alleged that the company had diverted bank funds to the tune of Rs 2240 crore, which had resulted in loss to the consortium.

It had alleged that they had cheated 17 nationalised and four private banks. Later, ED also registered a case in this regard.