In the fresh development, the Enforcement Directorate has filed its first charge sheet in the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) alleged illegal payment default crisis case even as it has attached assets worth about Rs 570 crore, officials said on Saturday.
The charge sheet has been filed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a special court in Mumbai on Friday, they added.
In the charge sheet, it is mentioned that the roles of the directors and others in allegedly perpetrating the funds’ crisis and alleges corrupt practices were adopted by them that led to financial bunglings.
These assets, commercial and residential, are held by the committee of directors of IL&FS Financial Services Ltd (IFIN) Ravi Parthasarathy, Ramesh Bawa, Hari Sankaram, Arun Saha and Ramchand Karunakaran, the ED attachment order said.
Saha and Karunakaran were arrested by the agency in June.
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The bank accounts and immovable properties held “indirectly” by Aircel founder C Sivasankaran, in the name of his family members and group companies, have also been attached, they said.
The total value of the provisionally attached properties is worth about Rs 570 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a money laundering case in this incident in February this year on the basis of an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police.
The agency, in its probe and in the charge sheet, said the senior management of IL&FS indulged in acts of commissions and omissions leading to illegal personal gains to them at the expense of the company.
“In criminal conspiracy with each other and promoters of various private entities, they have in flagrant violation to the prudent and established norms, sanctioned and disbursed huge loans to the companies which were already under financial stress and defaulted on repayment of loans earlier taken from IFIN, an IL&FS subsidiary,” the ED alleged.
The ED said in order to maintain the credentials of IFIN so that they could continue to receive high remuneration, the directors allegedly falsified the accounts and indulged in”circuitous transactions” to artificially boost the balance sheet of IL&FS group, whereas actually, these illegal activities were leading to further losses to the group.
The agency is expected to file more charge sheets in the case.
(With agency inputs)