ED attaches Empress Mall in money laundering case against Tayal Group
| Date :15-May-2019 |
Staff Reporter:
The sprawling Empress Mall near Gandhisagar owned by Mumbai based KSL Industries was attached by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday. The action is part of ongoing investigation by Kolkata office of ED against KSL Group under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The 2,70,374 square feet of commercially diverted land and thereon constructed Empress Mall is collectively worth Rs 483 crores. KSL Group is accused of fraudulently availing loans worth Rs 524 crore from Bank of India and Andhra Bank in 2008. Officials from ED Nagpur were also part of the team who conducted raids on the shell companies of Tayal group.
The officials are also scrutinising documents and gathered important inputs about the property situated in the city. KSL and Industries Ltd is a firm of Tayal Group promoted by the family of industrialist Pravin Kumar Tayal. It was revealed during the investigation that the Tayal family members allegedly siphoned off funds obtained from UCO Bank and the accounts became Non-Performing Assets (NPA). ED investigation under PMLA was prompted by three First Investigation Reports (FIRs) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against three different Tayal Group companies -- Actiff Corporation Ltd, Jaybharat Textiles and Real Estate Ltd, and KKTL and Eskay Knit (India) Ltd. It was also revealed that for the purpose of money laundering they had created a maze of shell companies that were used for routing the diverted funds.
These were only pen and paper companies, means no business were carried out by them. Funds were ultimately routed through those shell companies to companies of Tayal Group and used for creation of assets in the names of different companies. After painstaking investigation by ED officials involving analysis of huge cache of documents, trails of same were identified and prime properties at Mumbai having market value of Rs. 234 Crore were attached under PMLA. A prosecution complaint was also been filed in the matter before the Special Court under PMLA for commission of offence under section 3 of PMLA. While the earlier case was under investigation, it was revealed that different companies of Tayal group had further availed loans from Bank of India and Andhra Bank amounting to Rs 524 crores and diverted these funds using the same modus operandi of use of maze of shell companies. A new case was recorded under PMLA.
These loans were sanctioned in the year 2008. After money laundering investigation in the second case, immovable property in form of Empress Mall situated at Nagpur having value of Rs. 483 crore is provisionally attached, it is in addition to earlier attachment of properties worth Rs. 234 Crore. Total attachment in the case of Tayal's property is now pegged at Rs. 717 Crore. ED through its Money Laundering investigation has been successful in recovering almost the entire tranche of defrauded amount.
Role of Bank officials under scanner Sources informed that role of bank officials is also under the scanner of ED. They are suspecting that senior officials of the banks had sanctioned the loan to the Tayal Group for the sake of their personal benefits. “We are trying to trace the money-trail in the case,” an ED official said on condition of anonymity.
Name of Defendants: m M/s. KSL & amp; Industries Ltd. having their corporate office at 28, Raghuvanshi Mills Compound, 2nd Floor, 11-12, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai represented by its promoter Saurabh Pravin Tayal. m M/s. Jaybharat Textiles & amp; Real Estate Ltd., Registered Office at Salvav, Taluka Pardi, near Vapi, Valsad, Gujarat, represented by its Director m M/s. Actif Corporation Limited, having Corporate Office at Kamat Industrial Estate, 396, Veer Savarkar Marg, Opp. Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi, Mumbai, represented by its Director m M/s. Krishna Knitwear Technology Limited, Raghuvanshi Mills Compound, 11/12, Senapati Bapat Marg, Near Mahalaxmi Station, Mumbai, represented by its Director m M/s. Eskay Knit (India) Ltd. Raghuvanshi Mills Compound, 11/12, Senapati Bapat Marg, Near Mahalaxmi Station, Mumbai, represented by its Director m The Branch Head, Bank of India, Andheri Large Corporate Branch, MDI Building, First Floor, 28, S V Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai, represented by its Director
FIR’s lodged against Tayal Group of companies and money involved m Bank of India, Andheri Mid Corporate Branch, S V Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai Loan Advanced: Rs 231.84 crore to M/s. Actiff Corporation Ltd. (formerly known as Deccan Mills Real Estate & Infrastructure Ltd.) m Bank of India, LCB, MDI Building, S V Road, Andheri, Mumbai Advanced Loan: Rs 124.02 crore to M/s. Jaybharat Textiles & Real Estate Ltd. m Andhra Bank, Circle Office, AML-2, Andheri (E), Mumbai Advanced Loan: Rs 168.75 crore to M/s KKTL and M/s Eskay Knit (India) Ltd.