Rs 30 crore assets restituted to SBI in Telangana loan 'fraud' case: Enforcement Directorate

The Enforcement Directorate Saturday said it has restituted assets worth more than Rs 30 crore to a bank as part of a money laundering investigation against a Telangana-based refinery company accused of committing a loan fraud of about Rs 190 crore.

The case pertains to the company named Sheetal Refineries Limited and some other linked entities.

"Directorate of Enforcement, Hyderabad zonal office has successfully accomplished the process of restitution of properties worth Rs 30.71 crore to the State Bank of India in connection with a money laundering case against Sheetal Refineries Limited (SRL) and others," the ED said in a statement.

The company availed credit facilities from a consortium of banks, including SBI and Punjab National Bank, which later turned into non-performing asset (NPA), it said.

The firm availed 21 "fraudulent" Letters of Credit from these banks, based on fake and forged invoices, without any actual supply of material or legitimate business transactions, it alleged.

The promoters of SRL "diverted" the funds from the devolved Letters of Credit into SRL's bank accounts, as well as "in their own and family members' accounts".

The "proceeds of crime" were partly withdrawn in cash while a significant part was also used to make investments in various immovable properties in the names of the promoters and their family members, as per the ED.

This caused "wrongful" loss of Rs 136.28 crore to the SBI and Rs 53.82 crore to the PNB, it said.

The federal probe agency, as part of separate orders issued in 2016 and 2022, had attached assets worth Rs 52.77 crore in this case.

The ED said on its initiative, the SBI filed a restitution application under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in Hyderabad "for release of immoveable properties seized by the ED".

The court, as per the federal probe agency, issued an order on February 7 directing for the release of immoveable properties (worth Rs 30.71 crore) of Sheetal Refineries and its directors to the SBI.

"This marks another step in ED's efforts to restore properties to their rightful claimants and to ensure that proceeds of crime are returned to those affected," the ED said.