NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday said it has attached assets worth Rs 224.6 crore of a firm linked to former Aircel promoter C Sivasankaran in connection with a money laundering probe in an alleged multicrore loan fraud at IDBI Bank. The agency said it has issued a provisional order for attachment of assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Siva Group of Companies and Axcel Sunshine located in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.
The ED said the assets include land parcels and office premises located at MRC Nagar and T Nagar in Chennai, mutual funds and deposits available in bank accounts. The agency said it registered a criminal case under PMLA, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR against the firms, C Sivasankaran and others for non-payment of loans of about Rs 470 crore disbursed by an IDBI Bank branch located in Chennai.
The ED said its probe found that the “Siva Group negotiated, applied and obtained loan in the name of front company Axcel Sunshine Ltd. and misutilised the same for striking off their earlier and other loans knowingly that the companies were under NPA and the loans were not re-paid” by them.