The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth `255 crores of Maharashtra-based Gangakhed Sugar & Energy Limited (GSEL), Yogeswari Hatcheries, Gangakhed Solar Power Limited under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an agricultural bank loan fraud case.
The attached assets include sugar plant and machinery of GSEL worth `247 crore, situated at Gangakhed, District Parbhani, Maharashtra, land worth `5 crores of GSEL, Yogeswari Hatcheries, Gangakhed Power Solar Limited situated at District Parbhani, Beed, Dhule Maharashtra, bank balance of `1.58 crores, investment in shares of `1.91 crores held in the name of GSEL.
The ED had initiated investigation in May 2019, under the provisions of PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered by Gangakhed Police against GSEL, Ratnakar Gutte chairman and others under IPC sections relating to cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and common intention for fraudulently availing agricultural loan in the name of poor farmers, on the basis of forged loan proposals submitted to the banks. CID Aurangabad has filed the chargesheet for embezzlement/mis-appropriation of the funds, the ED said.
Investigation revealed that the chairman of GSEL with the connivance of others misused the agricultural loan facility meant for poor farmers. The scheme of agricultural loan is formulated for financing the farmers coming under the command area of the sugar factory. Its aim is to meet the financial needs of the farmers and it is given by the banks to the sugarcane farmers based on their land holding for raising their crop which includes among other things to purchase the seeds, fertilizers, manures, machinery, tractor, pump, harvesting and transportation of the crop, it said.
Investigation also revealed that the accused person created the data bank of the farmers, who supplied the sugarcane to the factory, by collecting their KYC at the time of purchasing the sugarcane from the farmers coming under the command area of the sugar factory. The said factory further made a tie up agreement with the banks for obtaining the agricultural loan for the farmers. By virtue of the tie up agreement, GSEL became the agent for the banks, whose responsibility was to do KYC verification of the farmers. During the period from 2012-13 to 2016-17, GSEL made forged agricultural loan proposals in the name of the farmers on the basis of farmers’ KYC and submitted them to the banks. Based on these forged loan proposals, the banks sanctioned the agricultural loan of around `772 crore, it said.
Investigation into money trail further revealed that using this modus operandi, around Rs 635 crores were disbursed by the banks in to the bank accounts opened in the name of the farmers and the funds were never utilised by the farmers and instead it was siphoned off to different bank accounts of GSEL on the basis of the forged Consent letter of the farmers. This ill-gotten money was utilised by the accused for purchase of the land, for erection and fabrication of the GSEL plant.