ED chargesheets ex-Congress MP, 38 others in Andaman co-op bank 'fraud' case

New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has filed a chargesheet against 39 entities, including former Andaman and Nicobar Islands MP and Congress leader Kuldeep Rai Sharma, in a Rs 500 crore cooperative bank "fraud" linked money laundering case.

The prosecution complaint was filed on November 14 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court located in Port Blair, the agency said in a statement.

The accused include Sharma, a former chairman of the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCBL), Managing Director of the bank K Murugan, Loan officer K Kalaivanan, and other accused named Sanjay Lal and Sanjeev Lal, apart from some companies.

The money laundering case stems from a Crime and Economic Offences Cell of the Andaman and Nicobar Police.

The case, as per the ED, pertains to the "fraud" committed by the officials of the cooperative bank, including Sharma and others responsible for sanctioning bank loans.

"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 procedure 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 charged.

Loan facilities were sanctioned through more than 100 loan accounts in the names of various firms and shell (dummy) companies, in "complete disregard" of the laid-down procedures and guidelines of the bank. The amount involved in the fraud exceeds Rs 500 crore, it said.

Sharma, Murugan and Kalaivanan "fraudulently" availed loans from the bank in the names of companies incorporated in the name of their relatives and associates.

"The bank officials also helped their associates, namely Sanjay Lal, Sanjeev Lal and others, to obtain multiple loans in lieu of 5 per cent commission on the instructions of Kuldeep Rai Sharma.

"The commission amount was taken either in the form of cash or through associates by using the accounts of shell companies," it claimed.

Sharma, Murugan, Kalaivanan and Sanjay Lal were arrested by the ED, and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody. PTI NES RHL