Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted search operations at multiple locations in Delhi, Jalgaon, and Ahmedabad as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged Rs 168 crore investment fraud involving Dnyanradha Multi-state Cooperative Society Ltd (DMCSL), its director Suresh Kute, and others. Kute was arrested in June 2024 and is currently in judicial custody.
The searches were conducted on September 20 and 21, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), leading to the seizure of movable assets, including bank funds, fixed deposits and Demat account holdings amounting to approximately Rs 7.5 crore have been frozen along with the seizure of various incriminating documents and digital devices the probe agency said on Monday.
DMCSL operates over 50 branches across Beed, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, and Jalna. The cooperative society has faced multiple allegations of duping investors, with several cases registered against its management between May and July 2024 at various police stations in Maharashtra under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act.
The ED's money laundering case is based on the multiple FIRs registered against DMCSL.
The society – is managed and controlled by Kute, Yashvant V Kulkarni, and others, As per the FIRs registered and verified to date, the tentative amount of fraud with investors amounts to Rs 168 Crore approx. floated various deposit schemes, claiming to provide interest rates ranging between 12% and 14%. It also offered personal loans, simple loans, salary loans, term loans, gold loans, and FDR loans. The agency said that Kute and others lured unsuspecting investors with higher returns. However, no payments or only partial payments were made to the investors when their deposits matured. The funds were allegedly embezzled by the society’s management through a criminal conspiracy to create personal assets, the ED said.
Further ED investigations revealed that Suresh Kute, in connivance with Dibyayan Das Sharma, fabricated false documents showing a structured investment, allegedly promising Rs 10,000 crore in funding over five years from M/s Minventa Research, Luxembourg, through the securitization of Kute Group’s assets. Fraudulent documents related to this scheme were distributed among DMCSL investors to prevent them from pursuing legal action, with false assurances that all investors would be repaid. These fabricated documents were also submitted to various judicial forums, including the Hon’ble High Court and NCLT, in an attempt to mislead authorities and present the Kute Group as financially solvent.
The ED investigation revealed that funds collected by DMCSL from depositors were siphoned off by Suresh Kute and others for their personal gains to create assets. It was further uncovered that these funds were diverted through various shell entities via layering, with the proceeds being introduced into the Kute Group of companies as share capital or investments. Additionally, the investigation revealed that some funds from DMCSL were siphoned off to Hong Kong through layering, creating a web of bogus shell entities. The proceeds of the crime generated by defrauding DMCSL investors were laundered by Suresh Kute and others for personal benefits, including the acquisition of various movable and immovable assets, evidence of which has also been seized.
Earlier, ED had conducted search operations in this case on August 09 and had frozen movable assets to the tune of Rs 1.73 Crore (approx.) along with seizure of various other incriminating documents & digital devices. Total seizure in this case till date amounts to Rs 9.2Crore (approx.).
