Sunday, April 28, 2024
ADVT 
India

Ratul Puri Spent Over $4.5mn On Lavish Lifestyle: ED

Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Oct, 2019 08:51 PM

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath - Ratul Puri - then Executive Director of Moser Baer India Ltd (MBIL) of "spending over $4.5 million" from a credit card issued from Dubai through alleged AgustaWestland deal middleman Rajiv Saxena on a "lavish lifestyle on holidays travelling in private jets and night clubs".


    The financial probe agency filed the charge sheet against Puri in a Delhi court.


    Puri was arrested on August 18 this year in a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against MBIL and others.


    The ED in its charge sheet alleged that Puri had "transferred" funds consisting of bank loans to various subsidiaries of MBIL across the world in the guise of giving loans and investments.


    The probe agency said that Puri with the help of various hawala operators and professionals created "corporate structures" in various jurisdictions and invested in asset creation like buying a factory, movable assets and also for funding a lavish lifestyle for which a credit card was got issued from the Dubai based hawala operator Rajiv Saxena, who was deported to India in the AgustaWestland scam.


    "The total amount spent on the credit card is $4.5 million which has been used for lavish stays on holidays travelling in private jets and night clubs," the ED alleged.


    Saxena was deported to India in January this year from Dubai in connection with the probe into the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper case.


    Earlier on Friday, the agency moved a Delhi court seeking cancellation of approver status granted to Saxena in the money laundering case related to the Rs 3,600 crore chopper deal.


    The ED also alleged that loans to the tune of Rs 7,979.30 crore taken from various banks were misused and misappropriated by MBIL and its directors and promoters for their own use and have further been transferred to the companies of Hindustan Power Group of Puri.


    The agency alleged that in order to avail the loan and for corporate debt restructuring, a fabricated document was submitted to the bank showing infusion of Promoters' contribution which itself had come from suspicious sources.


    "Corporate guarantees were given to lure the banks to disburse loans to subsidiaries beyond the net worth of the company MBIL over a period of time, the receivables were written off and investments were shown to be diminished and written off. No efforts were made to recover the amounts. Most of the subsidiaries have an outstanding financial liability towards the banks totalling to Rs 7,979.30 crore," the ED said.


    The ED had earlier said that during the probe it was revealed that Moser Baer had bought Blue Ray discs from Pacific International FZE, a company of Saxena, which purchased the same from Singulus Technologies, Germany.


    The total quantum of purchase was approximately $3.3 million and price differential per unit was "double" the amount, it said, adding: "Investigation has revealed that Puri was the beneficiary of the said tainted money, generated by diverting bank funds through over-invoicing."

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Back Channel Exercise For Modi-Imran Meet In Saudi Arabia?

    Intense back channel exercise by Indian side is underway to arrange a meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani coounterpart Imran Khan, a Pakistan media report claimed on Tuesday.

    Back Channel Exercise For Modi-Imran Meet In Saudi Arabia?

    Punjab-Based Apple Trader Charanjeet Singh Killed By Kashmiri Militants In Shopian, Another Injured

    Charanjeet Singh and Sanjeev were shot at Trenz by 3-4 militants around 7.30 pm, police said. They were taken to the district hospital in Pulwama in a critical condition, where Charanjeet succumbed to his injuries.  

    Punjab-Based Apple Trader Charanjeet Singh Killed By Kashmiri Militants In Shopian, Another Injured

    Labourer From Chhattisgarh Killed By Terrorists In Kashmir's Pulwama

     Sources said the terrorists have been targeting labourers, who have come to Jammu and Kashmir from outside the state, to create fear among them and disrupt trade.

    Labourer From Chhattisgarh Killed By Terrorists In Kashmir's Pulwama

    Registration For Sikh Pilgrims For Kartarpur Corridor To Begin On Oct 20; India-Pak To Sign Agreement Soon

    Pakistan will allow 5,000 pilgrims daily on the corridor that will link Dera Baba Nanak in India’s Punjab state to Darbar Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur.

    Registration For Sikh Pilgrims For Kartarpur Corridor To Begin On Oct 20; India-Pak To Sign Agreement Soon

    ‘Referendum 2020’ Backed By 'Handful Of Sikhs', Bogus Issue: Indian Envoy

    The “Referendum 2020” backed by a “handful” of Sikhs is a “bogus issue” which is being supported by a neighbour opposed to India, country’s top envoy to the US said on Sunday.    

    ‘Referendum 2020’ Backed By 'Handful Of Sikhs', Bogus Issue: Indian Envoy

    India Slips To 102nd Rank In Global Hunger Report 2019; Behind Nepal, Pakistan

    India has slipped to 102nd position in the Global Hunger Index 2019 of 117 countries, slipping from its 2018 position of 95 and behind its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    India Slips To 102nd Rank In Global Hunger Report 2019; Behind Nepal, Pakistan