Andaman hotelier arrested in cooperative bank 'fraud' case

Port Blair, Oct 22 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested one more person in a money laundering case linked to an alleged Rs 500-crore cooperative bank fraud in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, officials said.

The Port Blair-based hotelier was arrested for procuring hefty loans allegedly through fraudulent means for business purposes, they said.

"Today, we arrested Sanjay Lal and he was sent to judicial custody. Our team of officers from Kolkata is camping in Port Blair and further investigation is underway," the ED official said.

The agency had last month arrested former MP from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Congress leader Kuldeep Rai Sharma along with two others in connection with the alleged scam.

The case pertains to an over Rs 500 crore worth "fraud" allegedly committed by the officials of Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCB), including Sharma, and others, who were responsible for sanctioning loans, according to the agency.

Sharma, 58, is a former chairman of the bank.

"These persons, in connivance with their accomplices, floated several shell companies and sanctioned large loans to them as well as to their regular entities in flagrant violation of the rules and laid down procedures of the bank with the sole intent of not repaying the funds, thereby causing losses to the bank and generating corresponding gains for themselves," the ED had claimed in an earlier statement.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Crime and Economic Offences Cell of the Andaman & Nicobar Police. PTI SN RBT