ED attaches properties worth over Rs 30 cr in Gangotri Enterprises PMLA case

New Delhi: The Lucknow zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 12 immovable properties worth Rs 30.86 crore belonging to the promoters, directors, and guarantors of Gangotri Enterprises Ltd under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Accordingly, the ED has attached the properties of Vinay Shankar Tiwari, former MLA Rita Tiwari, and Ajit Kumar Pandey.

“The immovable properties attached are in the form of commercial space, residential house, and agricultural lands which are spread across many cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, Noida, and Gorakhpur,” said a senior ED officer.

“The properties attached are registered in the name of Gangotri Enterprises, Royal Empire Marketing Pvt Ltd, Kandarp Construction Pvt Ltd, and Reeta Tiwari, the main accused in the case,” he added.

The financial probe agency had initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Gangotri Enterprises, its promoters, directors, and guarantors.

The ED’s probe has revealed that Gangotri Enterprises in collusion with its promoters/directors/guarantors fraudulently availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 1,129.44 crore from a consortium of seven banks led by the Bank of India.

“It was further revealed that the said credit facilities were not repaid and grossly diverted, misappropriated, and siphoned off by Gangotri Enterprises and its promoters, directors, and guarantors in violation of banking norms, causing wrongful loss to the tune of Rs 754.24 crore to the consortium of banks,” the officer said.

Earlier, the ED conducted searches at 10 premises on February 23, during which incriminating documents related to various properties bought out of the siphoned-off funds were seized.

“A provisional attachment order dated November 17, 2023, was also issued, attaching multiple immovable properties worth Rs 72.08 crore in this case. The total consolidated value of the attached properties in this case till now stands at Rs 102.94 crore,” the officer said.