The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has seized diamond and gold jewellery worth over Rs 24 crore after searches against a Maharashtra-based jewellery group, promoted by the family of a former NCP MP, and its owners in a money laundering case linked to alleged bank loan fraud.
The raids were carried out on August 17 at 13 premises in Jalgaon, Nashik and Thane of Rajmal Lakhichand Jewellers Pvt Ltd, R L Gold Pvt. Ltd., Manraj Jewellers Pvt. Ltd. and their promoters such as former NCP Rajya Sabha MP Ishwarlal Shankarlal Jain Lalwani (77), his family members including Manish Ishwarlal Jain Lalwani, Pushpa Devi and Neetika Manish Jain, the ED said in a statement. The money laundering case stems from three FIRs filed by the CBI against the accused on charges of loan fraud of more than Rs 352 crore at the State Bank of India (SBI).
Details of 60 properties, valued at more than Rs 50 crore, belonging to Rajmal Lakhichand group have been gathered during the search proceedings, apart from two “benami” properties beneficially owned by Rajmal Lakhichand and Manish Jain and located in Jamner, Jalgaon and surrounding areas, the agency alleged.
The agency said it recovered various “discrepancies like bogus sale-purchase transactions being shown in the books of accounts with the main holding company, Rajmal Lakhichand Jalgaon partnership firm.”
A large amount of stock in trade was found to be completely missing, it alleged. Against a declared stock of more than 1,284 kg of jewellery, the ED could trace only around 40 kg of jewellery and the loans taken against this declared stock was “siphoned off” by showing bogus purchases for non-existent jewellery, it said.
“The promoters failed to produce any supportive document to prove genuine utilisation of the loans by the three accused companies- Rajmal Lakhichand Jewellers Pvt. Ltd., R L Gold Pvt. Ltd., and Manraj Jewellers Pvt Ltd. In fact they admitted that purposefully, no books of accounts, ledgers, stock registers, invoices or any supportive documents were maintained for the 2003-2014 fiscal (loan disbursement period),” it said.
