Ahmedabad: Enforcement Directorate’s Ahmedabad office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 4.5 crore in connection with an alleged bank fraud involving Steel Konnect India Pvt Ltd.The attachment order was issued on Aug 24 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. According to the ED, the alleged diversion and misuse of loan funds in the case amounted to Rs 79.6 crore.The money-laundering investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The ED said its investigation found that the company’s erstwhile directors allegedly colluded with each other and unidentified persons to violate the sanctioned terms and conditions of the loan. The agency alleged that the loan funds were siphoned off through cash withdrawals and transferred to sister concerns without genuine business transactions.According to the agency, the transactions formed part of an alleged conspiracy aimed at causing wrongful loss to the bank and securing wrongful gain for the accused. The loan amount was allegedly misappropriated through non-consortium bank accounts, personal accounts of directors and subsidiary companies.The provisional attachment order was issued after the agency traced the money trail and examined the utilisation of the loan proceeds. Further investigation is under way, the ED said.
