India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided three properties in Gurugram linked to businessman Dandamudi Venkateswara Rao and his companies, Sravanthi Infratech Pvt Ltd and Sravanthi Energy Pvt Ltd (SEPL). The searches, carried out on October 1 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), uncovered key documents pointing to possible financial wrongdoing.
Investigators seized property registration deeds, gift deeds, share purchase agreements, and loan assignment deals between banks and asset reconstruction companies. They also grabbed emails and records with Hythro Power Corporation Ltd (HPCL), along with SEPL’s ledger accounts, books, purchase orders, work orders, and a share valuation report.
The raids tie into a broader probe into how HPCL and its directors, Amul Gabrani and Ajay Kumar Bishnoi, allegedly siphoned off public funds to their own entities and HPCL’s affiliates. This scheme reportedly cost banks a whopping Rs 346.08 crore in fraud from 2009 to 2015.
The ED kicked off its money laundering investigation based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR. That case accuses the suspects of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and corruption under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, leading to huge wrongful gains for themselves.
Digging deeper, the ED found that SEPL has owed banks more than Rs 10 crore since 2013-15, with zero recovery so far. Even more suspicious, during 2018-19 and 2019-20—years when SEPL posted positive EBITDA over Rs 210 crore—the company sold equity shares worth Rs 18.43 crore (face value Rs 10 each) to foreign investors at a rock-bottom Rs 0.25 per share. Banks held these as Class-A shares before the transfer.
This Gurugram money laundering case highlights ongoing efforts to crack down on bank fraud and fund diversion in India’s corporate world. The ED’s Gurugram Zonal Office continues its probe.
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