ED attaches ₹678 cr assets of Avantha Group for 'cheating'

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 678.48 crore belonging to various companies of the Avantha Group owned and controlled by Gautam Thapar.

These properties-land holdings in Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand-have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as proceeds of crime.

Thapar is being probed by the federal agency on charges of cheating and siphoning off loans worth Rs 2,435 crore taken from a State Bank of India-led consortium.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Thapar, his company CG Power & Industrial Solutions (previously known as Crompton Greaves) and six others on June 24, 2021, on charges of «diversion/misappropriation of public money» between 2015 and 2019.

The ED registered its money laundering case on the basis of CBI's First Information Report (FIR).

Previously, it had provisionally attached properties worth Rs 14.43 crore.

The agency, in a press release issued on Thursday, said its investigation has revealed the Avantha Group had diverted Rs 1,307.06 crore from the bank loans to its group companies.

Most of the funds had been given without authorisation of its board and the funds given to the group companies remained outstanding, it said.