The Enforcement Directorate, Chennai, has provisionally attached 37 immovable properties, including showroom, beach house and marriage hall, worth about Rs 328 crores belonging to Nathella Sampath Jewellery Private Ltd, its promoters-cum – directors and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in a case related to cheating a consortium of banks.
Enforcement Directorate
Chennai:
NSJPL is engaged in sale of gold and silver jewellery, silver articles, and jewellery made of precious and semi-precious stones.
According to a statement issued here by KSVV Prasad, Joint Director, ED, Chennai, the agency carried out investigations based on an FIR that the CBI had filed in April after the State Bank of India (SBI) filed a complaint against the jewellery firm.
Most of the attached properties were mortgaged with financial institutions outside the consortium of banks. Investigation revealed that crime proceeds were used for payment of the monthly instalments towards those loans. The SBI had alleged that the promoters of NSJPL have been misrepresenting and falsifying its account books and financial statements for availing credit facilities from the lenders with a clear criminal and malafide intent to cheat and defraud the bankers. The promoters and other accused have caused wrongful loss of about Rs 380 crore as on February 1, to the consortium of banks including SBI, it alleged.
During investigations, it was noticed that the stocks reported to banks were at about Rs 495 crore as on March 31, 2017. However, the forensic audit estimated that the actual stocks as on March 31, 2017 could only be about Rs 31 crore. Similarly, the sales for 2016-17 were reported as Rs 1,517 crore, whereas the actual sales as per the forensic audit was a meagre Rs 157 crore, the ED said.
Similar is the case with purchases, which were reported at Rs 1,591 crore as against the actual figure of Rs 61 crore. The ED said investigations revealed the promoters routed and layered the crime proceeds through their family companies and trusts indulging in money laundering.
Properties attached include a showroom in Tambaram, Anna Nagar, Purusaiwalkam, registered office in T Nagar, a beach house in Uthandi, properties in Luz Church Road and Kilpauk, a school in Ambattur, residential property in Kilpauk, a marriage hall in Koyamabedu and other commercial and residential land and buildings in Chennai.