NEW DELHI:
Enforcement Directorate
has conducted searches on premises of three
Essel Group companies
, besides others, in Mumbai. The action was taken on complaint of Religare that its Rs 150 crore was allegedly laundered by the group, the Central agency said.
ED
said the matter relates to alleged siphoning off of funds from Religare Finvest (RFL), a non-banking finance company of the Religare Group, by group entities of Essel, which included Rs 40 crore to Widescreen Holdings, Rs 50 crore to Edison Infrapower & Multiventures and Rs 10 crore to Asian Satellite Broadcast.
"The loan was defaulted by the said companies by way of executing a fraudulent settlement agreement in Jan 2018 in connivance with the erstwhile management and officials of RFL and one entity named Oscar Investments," ED said, adding that further investigation is in progress.
Essel Group spokesperson said, "No incriminating documents were found or seized. As far as the Rs 150 crore loan is concerned, the same was repaid/settled and there was no wrongful loss caused by Essel Group."
ED had earlier initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR filed by Delhi Police EOW in which Religare Finvest Ltd had made allegations against four companies of "hatching a criminal conspiracy for causing wrongful loss to it (RFL) by defaulting on a loan of Rs 150 crore". Searches were also conducted at residence of a former Essel Group senior official. "The search has resulted in the recovery of incriminating documents and recording of statements of the officials of the companies under PMLA," the ED said.
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