The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at 17 locations in Delhi, Ludhiana, Jammu and Srinagar in connection with the J&K Bank loan fraud case involving Hilal Ahmed Rather in a money laundering case worth Rs 177.68 crore. Hilal is son of former Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who served as Finance, Agriculture, Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister under the National Conference-led government in the erstwhile State.
The investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Jammu.
“Investigation conducted by ED revealed that a loan of Rs 177.68 crores was sanctioned by the J&K bank, without verifying documents and in violation of guidelines of RBI, to Paradise Avenue for construction of a residential housing project in Jammu,” the agency said in a statement.
A substantial part of the loan was siphoned off by Hilal Rather by transferring the funds from the loan account of Paradise Avenue to various entities and rerouting the funds back to the firm’s current account from where it was further withdrawn and transferred for purchase of movable/immovable assets in India, Dubai and USA, the ED said.
The funds were also spent on foreign tours and other personal activities of Rather. As many as three flats in the name of Hilal Rather and family members were acquired in Dubai and one Bungalow was acquired in the name of Hilal Rather and his wife in North Carolina, USA, the agency saud.
The residences of Abdul Rahim Rather in Srinagar and Hilal Rather in Jammu were among the premises searched by the ED. Several incriminating documents and digital evidence have been seized during the search operations, the agency added.