The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immoveable properties worth Rs 9,778 crore belonging to Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL)/ Sandesara Group and the firm’s main promoters, Nitin Sandesara, Chetan and Deepti, along with others. The ED was probing a money laundering case relating to cheating and bank fraud against them.
The attached properties include four oil rigs and oil field. These include OML 143 located in Nigeria, and three ships (Tulja Bhawani, Varinda, Bhavya and Brahmani) registered in Panama and held in the name of company Atlantic Blue Water Services. The ED has also attached an aircraft registered in the USA and a residential flat in London. All the companies holding the attached assets are controlled by SBL. The latest move is in addition to the attachment of assets worth Rs 4,730 crore made by the ED in 2018.
“The SBL Group had obtained both Indian and foreign currency loans from Indian banks/ lenders. The loans were sanctioned/ disbursed by consortium of banks led by Andhra Bank, UCO Bank, State Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Bank of India. It is revealed during investigation that the loan funds were diverted for non-mandated purposes, layered and laundered through a web of multiple domestic as well as offshore entities. The main promoters have not only siphoned off loan funds to finance their Nigerian Oil Business but also for their personal purposes,” the ED said.
The promoters used their employees’ names and incorporated 249 domestic and 96 offshore shell companies.
Investigations also revealed that the Group was engaged in round tripping of Standby Letters of Credit (SBLCs) funds to the tune of Rs 4,500 crores by violating the conditions laid down by RBI while sanctioning the loan.
“The said SBLCs were later on devolved on the guarantor banks causing wrongful loss to these public sector banks and to the public at large. Their strategy included incorporation of multiple shell companies, conducting circular transactions to artificially inflate turnover of flagship companies, claiming higher depreciations on non-existing machinery to avoid tax liabilities, artificial share trading with the shell companies, layering and laundering of proceeds of crime within India and abroad through the web of multiple shell companies,” the agency further said.
The original PAN cards, stamps, seals, Memorandum of Association and signed blank cheque books of shell companies have been seized by ED from possession of the promoters. All these shell companies were controlled, managed and beneficially owned by the main promoters and were used in the process of money laundering, the agency said.
The probe has also revealed that the promoters have created a web of corporate and accounting structures abroad. They have incorporated 96 entities in various countries including UAE, USA, UK, BVI, Mauritius, Barbados, Panama, and Nigeria. The main entities outside India include Richmond Overseas, Sunshine Trust Corporation, SEEPCO BVI, SEEPCO Nigeria, Atlantic Blue Water Services Pvt Ltd. Geodynamic Geospectra Limited, SAIB LLC and Goldcoin Construction.