The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹268.66 crore of Agnite Education Limited and others in connection with a bank fraud case. The accused persons parked the funds taken from the State Bank of India in the form of assets in Austria, Thailand and Bangladesh.
The agency’s money laundering probe is based on two first information reports (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Agnite Education Limited, formerly Teledata Informatics Limited, its directors K. Balasubramaniam and K. Padmanabhan, and Teledata Marine Solutions Limited.
It is alleged that Agnite Education Limited and Teledata Marine Solutions Limited took loans to the tune of ₹479 crore from the bank. The two companies and the associated entities fraudulently acquired movable properties in the form of five LPG carrier ships, one oil tanker, and bank balances abroad, by making sham investments. They indulged in transactions with the related parties to inflate balance sheets for getting more loans.
“Most of such associate companies have been found to be untraceable on verification. Further, they have parked the funds availed through bank loans in the form of assets in Austria, Thailand and Bangladesh,” said the agency.
In order to prevent the sale of properties, which are proceeds of the alleged crime, the agency decided to attach the assets in the form of shares, carrier ships and bank balances of Agnite Education Limited, Teledata Marine Solutions Limited and their associate companies, it said.
