Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: A property in Goa is among 22 movable and immovable assets worth approximately ₹112.90 crore provisionally attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering investigation linked to LEEL Electricals Ltd. (formerly Lloyd Electric & Engineering Ltd.), its promoter Bharat Raj Punj, and others.
According to the ED, the attached assets include land, industrial plots, residential properties, bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual fund investments spread across Goa, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, besides a residential property in Houston, Texas (USA). The agency has not disclosed the exact location or value of the Goa property.
The ED’s probe stems from a CBI FIR alleging that Bharat Raj Punj and senior officials of LEEL Electricals conspired to cheat a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) by submitting manipulated financial statements. The alleged fraud is said to have caused a loss of around ₹376 crore to SBI and IDBI Bank.
Investigators claim the company inflated the value of assets, inventories and receivables to secure and continue availing bank credit facilities. The diverted funds were allegedly routed through a network of promoter-controlled companies in India and overseas subsidiaries before being invested in immovable properties and other assets.
The ED also stated that a significant portion of the proceeds was transferred abroad through overseas subsidiaries controlled by the promoter family. As part of the action, the agency has attached a residential property in Houston, Texas, jointly owned by Bharat Raj Punj and his wife, alleging that it represents proceeds of crime held outside India.
