The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted multiple searches in connection with a money laundering case against a Vadodara-based company for allegedly cheating various banks to the tune of Rs 26.54 billion.
Officials said the raids were carried out at seven places in the Vadodara district and the premises of the firm--Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL)-- and its executives.
The corporate office of the company in Gorwa area of the city, factories in Vadadala and Ranoli and residential premises of its executives in Nizampura and New Alkapuri were covered as part of the action, they said.
Though the raids continued throughout the day, the company promoters were not found anywhere for questioning, said a top ED official.
"We did not find any company promoter during today's operation. It seems they are absconding ever since the issue came to the fore," said the top ED official.
The agency has also asked at least 31 companies, that had placed orders with the firm, to not make any payments and desist from conducting any transactions.
The agency has also seized documents related to movable and immovable assets of the promoters of the firm, they said.
The ED carried out the searches after it filed a criminal complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the company, based on a recent CBI FIR.
The CBI had conducted raids in the case last week.
The ED is probing if the alleged defaulted loans were laundered to create illegal assets and black money by the accused.
The CBI had alleged that DPIL, which manufactures electric cables and equipment, is promoted by S N Bhatnagar and his sons Amit Bhatnagar and Sumit Bhatnagar, who were also the executives of the firm.
It is alleged that DPIL, through its management, had fraudulently availed credit facilities from a consortium of 11 banks (both public and private) since 2008, leaving behind an outstanding debit of Rs 26.54 billion crore as on June 29, 2016, the CBI said.
The loan amount of Rs 26.54 billion, it said, was declared a non-performing asset in 2016-17.
The company and its directors managed to get the term loans and credit facilities, in spite of the fact that they were named in the Reserve Bank's defaulters list and ECGC (Export Credit Guarantee Corporation) caution list at the time of the initial sanction of credit limits by the consortium, the agency had alleged.
At the time of formation of consortium in 2008, Axis Bank was the lead bank for the term loan and Bank of India was the lead bank for cash credit limits. It is alleged that the firm, with active connivance of officials from various banks, managed to get enhanced credit facilities.
According to the CBI, the company had been allegedly submitting false stock statements to the lead bank by treating receivables more than 180 days (non-current asset) as less than 180 days (current asset) to get more drawing power in their cash credit accounts.
A clutch of public and private banks have exposure of different amounts to DPIL.
Among them, Bank of India's exposure to the company is Rs 6.7 billion, Bank of Baroda's Rs 3.48 billion and that of ICICI Bank Rs 2.79 billion, the CBI FIR said.