ED files chargesheet against 10 people in Rs 77.36-cr bank loan fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against one Gyan Prakash Sarawgi and nine others in connection with money laundering case related to a bank loan fraud.

The prosecution complaint was filed before a special PMLA court in Ranchi which has taken the cognizance of the matter on June 3.

"The prosecution complaint was preceded by a provisional attachment order of May 25, 2020 attaching therewith 10 immovable properties worth Rs 4.25 crore identified as proceeds of crime," said an ED official.

The case relates to bank fraud wherein the accused persons availed bank loans fraudulently amounting to Rs 77.36 crore on the pretext of trading in textiles, garments and construction items.

After getting the loan amount, the accused laundered all the money through a maze of transactions involving many intermediary companies and were finally used into the activities of Sarawgi Builders and Promoters Pvt Ltd which was primarily engaged in the business of real estate.

The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the three FIRs registered by the the CBI's Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Ranchi against Sarawgi Builders and Promoters Pvt. Ltd. and others.

The proceeds of crime in this case is Rs 77.36 crore.

Earlier, the ED had seized cash amounting to Rs 3.37 crore during the course of searches on December 15, 2021 into the matter. In March 2022, the ED had subsequently arrested Gyan Prakash Sarawgi, Director of Sarawgi Builders and Promoters Pvt Ltd.

The PMLA court had remanded Sarawgi to ED's custody of seven days and later on he was sent to judicial custody.

He is currently lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi.