The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at seven premises of a Delhi-based realtor in connection with a money laundering case against him and his company over an alleged bank loan fraud worth Rs 800 crore and irregularities in the construction of a five-star hotel here.
Searches were conducted at the offices of the Aman Hospitality Pvt Ltd (AHPL) and other companies of the Ambience Group, and the residences of its directors Raj Singh Gehlot, Dayanand Singh, Mohan Singh Gehlot and their associates, the ED said in a statement.
Cash, including foreign currency, worth Rs 40 lakh was “seized from the residence of Raj Singh Gehlot,” the agency said, adding several incriminating documents and digital evidence were also seized during the search.
The case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is based on an FIR filed by the Jammu Anti-Corruption Bureau last year against the AHPL and its directors for money laundering in the construction and development of the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel on Maharaj Surajmal Road in Delhi, the agency said.
A probe found that a “huge part” of an over Rs 800-crore loan, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks for the project, was siphoned off by the AHPL, Raj Singh Gehlot and his associates through a “web of companies owned and controlled by them”, it said.
“A substantial part of the loan money was transferred by AHPL to several companies and individuals on the pretext of payment of running bills and advance for supply of material/and work executed,” it said.
The employees of Ambience Group and Raj Singh Gehlot’’s associates were made the directors and proprietors of these companies and he was the “authorized signatory” in many of these companies, according to the ED statement.