ED Attaches ₹315 Crore Worth of Assets in Money Laundering Case Involving Sharad Pawar Aide

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has taken action in a money laundering case, attaching 70 assets valued at ₹315.6 crore. The case involves former NCP Rajya Sabha member Ishwarlal Shankarlal Jain Lalwani and his son Manish, both closely associated with Sharad Pawar. This action is related to a bank fraud case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), accusing them of causing a wrongful loss of over ₹352.49 crore to the State Bank of India.

The attached assets, both movable and immovable, include alleged benami properties acquired by Ishwarlal, Manish, and others. These actions stem from three FIRs registered by the CBI, which uncovered the alleged wrongful loss to the State Bank of India. The assets are located in various areas, such as Mumbai, Thane, Jalgaon, Sillod in Maharashtra, and Kutch in Gujarat. They consist of windmills, silver and diamond jewelry, bullion, and Indian currency, with a cumulative value of ₹315.6 crore.

The bank fraud case involves Rajmal Lakhichand Jewelers Pvt Ltd, R L Gold Pvt Ltd, and Manraj Jewelers Pvt Ltd. The promoters, directors, and guarantors, including Ishwarlal and Manish, were named as accused for their alleged sale of properties that had been mortgaged with the bank for loans they had obtained. It is alleged that they misused credit facilities from the bank, diverting the borrowed money for purposes other than those specified in their loan agreements. This led to the registration of a money laundering case against them.

The ED’s investigation revealed that the promoters had submitted fake financial documents to secure these loans. They engaged in round tripping of transactions to inflate financial figures and booked bogus sale-purchase transactions in the companies’ records to divert loan proceeds for investments in real estate properties. Additionally, they were allegedly involved in fictitious stock and missing stock inventories of bullion and gold jewelry, used shell companies, and employed dummy directors.

Earlier, search operations were conducted at 13 official and residential premises of the Rajmal Lakhichand group in Jalgaon, Nashik, and Thane. During these operations, the ED seized gold, silver, diamond jewelry or bullion, Indian currency in cash, along with various incriminating documents.