What Actions Did the ED Take Against P.K. Enterprises in Kolkata's Bank Fraud Case?
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Kolkata, Dec 10 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has lodged a prosecution complaint (PC) against P.K. Enterprises under the stipulations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, at a specialized PMLA court in Kolkata regarding a bank fraud case, as disclosed by the central agency on Wednesday.
This complaint targets the proprietor of P.K. Enterprises, Prasenjit Das, the son of the late Purnendu Das—identified by the ED as the mastermind behind the bank forgery—along with Chandan Sarkar, Laltu Saha, and three others.
As per a statement released by the ED on Wednesday, the investigation was initiated following an FIR filed by the banking and securities fraud cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the inquiry, it came to light that the late Purnendu Das, through his proprietorship, had obtained a packing credit facility of Rs 8 crore and a foreign bill negotiation facility of Rs 25 crore from the former Allahabad Bank—now merged with Indian Bank—for the export of onions to Bangladesh, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs 26.72 crore to the bank through the submission of forged export bills.
The ED also stated that the sight bills under letters of credit opened at various banks in Bangladesh, and negotiated for the aforementioned proprietorship entity by the old Allahabad Bank, amounted to Rs 25 crore and became overdue.
When the Allahabad Bank requested payment for the export bills, the Bangladeshi banks that issued the letters of credit declined payment, citing non-receipt of goods as justification, according to the ED.
The ED asserts that the late Purnendu diverted loan proceeds to the account of his son’s firm, P.K. Enterprise, and into his personal accounts, leading to the misappropriation of funds acquired from the former Allahabad Bank. He also issued 70 bearer cheques to various suppliers of goods (onions), including himself, and withdrew cash using these cheques through employees of his entity.
“Earlier in this case, a provisional attachment order was issued, attaching five immovable properties worth approximately Rs 34.42 lakh,” stated the ED.