The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 413 agricultural land parcels worth Rs 52.90 crore in Sindhudurg district in connection with the money laundering involved in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) bank loan fraud case. The said land parcels measuring approximately 1,807 acres at Village Vijaydurg, in Devgad taluka have been attached under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the ED said on Tuesday. The attached land parcels were having registered value of Rs 52.90 crore and the Proceeds of Crime to the tune of Rs 82.30 crore were utilised during the period from 2010 to 2013 for acquiring these parcels of land, the agency said. On September 23, 2019, RBI had barred 17 lakh depositors of the 137 branches of PMC bank in six states, from withdrawing money after it came to light that PMC Bank’s top management had allegedly sanctioned around 73 per cent of the bank’s loans to Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) group unlawfully and concealed the firm’s non-performing assets (NPAs) causing a bank fraud of worth Rs 6117.93 (principal Rs 2,540.92 crore and interest Rs 3,577.01 crore). After protests by the victim depositors across the states the PMC bank was merged with Unity Small Finance Bank, after the Union finance ministry approved the merger in January 2022. Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) first registered a bank fraud case in the matter on September 30, 2019, and made several arrests including promoters of the HDIL group Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, Sarang Wadhawan, bank's then managing director Joy Thomas, chairman Waryam Singh, directors and other senior management officials. Later, on the basis of EOW’s FIR, ED initiated a money laundering investigation in the case and in October 2019 arrested Rakesh Wadhwan and his son Sarang. ED investigation revealed that during the period from 2010 to 2013, Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan had siphoned off Proceeds of crime totalling to Rs 82.30 crore to the accounts of 39 farmers through their subsidiary companies — M/s Privilege Power and Infrastructure Limited and M/s Privilege Hi-Tech Infrastructure Limited — for acquiring lands at Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg. Sarang in connivance with his employee Mukesh Khadpe, persuaded farmers to acquire lands in their names and transfer the same in the name of HDIL group company in lieu of commission and other benefits, the central agency said. Cash components were also used for acquiring these lands and after registration of lands at registered value of Rs 52.90 crore, power of attorney documents were obtained in favour of HDIL Group Company, the agency added. Though these lands were purportedly acquired for development of ports, the same was never developed. Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan, from their subsidiary companies accounts of HDIL diverted proceeds of the crime to the tune of Rs 82.30 crore in the accounts of farmers keeping PMC bank in the dark. Following this, the assets have been provisionally attached under PMLA, the ED said. A prosecution complaint and two supplementary prosecution complaints have already been filed against Wadhwans and 36 other persons. So far the agency has attached assets aggregating to Rs 719.11 crore in this case.
