ED seizes ₹678 crore in assets from Gautam Thapar-owned Avantha Group

By Bricksnwall | 2024-08-16

ED attached Gautam Thapar's Avantha Group assets worth ₹678 cr in a loan fraud case involving ₹2,435 cr. The investigation discovered cash routed to Avantha Group companies.

The Enforcement Directorate has attached the assets of Gautam Thapar's Avantha Group, valued over ₹678 crore, in a ₹2,435 crore loan fraud case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Immovable assets, such as land, were attached in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.

On August 19, 2019, it was alleged that the accused firm, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited, made disclosures to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 regarding certain findings that could have an impact on the company's financial condition.

According to agency sources, the firm's disclosure revealed that its assets and liabilities were significantly understated, advances to related and unrelated parties were understated, and the firm was made a co-borrower and/or guarantor to facilitate the processing of loans that were immediately diverted out of the firm without proper authorisation.

The lender banks took note of the firm's disclosure, and on the basis of a complaint from the SBI, the CBI registered a case on June 22, 2021, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act against CG Power and Industrial Solution Limited, Thapar, KN Neelkanth, Madhav Acharya, B Hariharan, O Goswami, and unknown public servant/s and private person/s, accusing them of involvement in orchestrating a fraud on the consortium of banks. The agency made two provisional attachments in the case valued at approximately ₹14.43 crore.

Acharya, a prominent managerial figure, was arrested in January of this year, and a chargesheet was filed against him and others for alleged involvement in money laundering in the case. The ED investigated the alleged diversion of cash of ₹1,307.06 crore to Avantha Group firms through loans and subsequent income.

According to a person familiar with the case, the ED has provisionally attached the properties of Avantha Group companies valued around ₹678.48 crore due to overdue money.

Source: Hindustan Times