The sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the Gorakhpur residence of Samajwadi Party leader Vinay Shankar Tiwari, son of former minister and mafia of eastern Uttar Pradesh Harishankar Tiwari.

Sources confirmed that the ED also raided the Lucknow and Delhi residences of the SP leader.

A case of money laundering is already registered against Vinay Shankar Tiwari and others in a Rs 750 crore bank fraud case. Recently his property was also confiscated. 

Reports said that a team of Bank of India, Lucknow had come to Gorakhpur three years ago regarding the bank loan taken by Vinay Shankar Tiwari and his company and returned after assessing his properties.

Later the bank filed a report and in 2020, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for probe. In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against former MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari and others in the Rs 750 crore fraud case. 

The agency’s Lucknow-based regional office had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the former MLA from Chillupar (Gorakhpur) and Lucknow-based Gangotri Enterprises.

The ED registered this case against Vinay Shankar Tiwari, his wife Rita, Gangotri Enterprises and others on the basis of CBI’s FIR. The CBI had conducted raids in Lucknow and Noida after registering a complaint in the case. 

The alleged fraud was committed against a consortium of banks led by the Bank of India, and was said to be worth Rs 754.25 crore.

According to the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), the firm M/s Gangotri Enterprises Limited and others have taken a loan of Rs 1,129 crore from seven different banks. The owners of these firms are former MLAs and their relatives. Most of the bank accounts have become non-performing assets (NPAs). Bank accounts are also being closed.

In this case, the DRT had issued summons against 33 persons, including former MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari, on July 1, 2019, and then sought answers from M/s Gangotri Enterprises Limited and other defendants at different times.

According to the case which reached the DRT, Vinay Shankar Tiwari and others have taken the maximum loan from the Bank of India. Action is going on in this matter.

The details of the raids are awaited.