The Rs 6.5-crore settlement by Zee founder Subhash Chandra, against admitted claims of over Rs 22,000 crore from banks, has reignited questions over the effectiveness of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and whether the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) is being exploited at the expense of creditors.
The issue found an echo at a conference of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers in Bengaluru this week, where the agency identified “unearthing frauds under the IBC and the PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act]” as its first operational thrust area. This would include re-examining “collusive resolution cases involving disproportionately large haircuts through which promoters re-acquire assets”.
Over the past two years, the agency has investigated close to a dozen cases involving alleged manipulation of the insolvency process.
Alchemist: Creditors’ committee dominated by promoter group
The ED had been investigating the Alchemist Group, founded by former Rajya Sabha MP K D Singh, over alleged money laundering of more than Rs 1,840 crore since 2016. Even as the probe was on, an operational creditor, Sai Tech Medicare Pvt Ltd, initiated CIRP against Alchemist Ltd in 2021.
But the resulting committee of creditors (CoC) was dominated by three group companies: Technology Parks (97 per cent of voting rights), Alchemist Township (1.74 per cent) and Alchemist Realty (0.61 per cent). All three figured in the ED’s money-laundering probe. The RP, Gaurav Misra, was also a former Alchemist Group employee.
The ED alleged that the arrangement was designed to allow the group to use the insolvency process to reclaim assets attached under the PMLA and eventually seek immunity under Section 32A of the IBC, which deals with liability for prior offences.
In its February 3 order, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) held that the CIRP was vitiated by “fraud and collusion” and “fraudulent and malicious intent”. It recalled the CIRP, ended the legal protection that prevented creditors from taking action, and nullified the RP’s appointment and actions. It also imposed a Rs 5 lakh penalty on Sai Tech Medicare. The Calcutta High Court later asked the CBI to probe the CIRP process.
Sunstar Overseas: Using firm’s own money to regain control
The ED began its probe against Sunstar Overseas Ltd in 2024. The agency alleged that the company was effectively used to finance its own takeover through the insolvency process.
Sunstar had admitted claims of Rs 1,274.14 crore but was taken over through CIRP for Rs 196 crore (a haircut of almost 85 per cent) by Umaiza Infracon LLP, which the ED described as a shell entity without funds of its own. The agency alleged that funds were siphoned from Sunstar to the dummy company, which was projected as an independent resolution applicant, allowing the accused to regain actual control of the insolvent company.
The ED arrested three people in July 2024 and attached assets worth Rs 294.19 crore. Its prosecution complaint names 25 people and entities.
Richa Industries: Engineering the creditors’ committee
The ED began investigations against Richa Industries Ltd in 2021. In 2025, the agency alleged an attempt to influence the CoC through a proxy entity. The investigation into an alleged Rs 236-crore bank fraud found that the promoters incorporated Saariga Constructions Pvt Ltd using a former Richa Industries employee as a benamidar. The company allegedly acquired voting rights in the CoC, allowing promoters to influence the insolvency process. Saariga subsequently submitted a resolution plan to re-acquire Richa Industries, according to the ED.
The agency further alleged that the RP, Arvind Kumar, colluded with the promoters by failing to act on fraudulent transactions identified in transaction audits. A Mussoorie project was allegedly subcontracted to a promoter-controlled entity just before CIRP, with nearly Rs 40 crore diverted during the insolvency period.
Richa eventually went into liquidation. When it was sold as a going concern in October 2025, public sector banks received Rs 40.29 crore against admitted claims of Rs 696 crore—an approximately 94 per cent haircut. The ED arrested promoter Sandeep Gupta in January and filed a prosecution complaint against him, the former RP and 25 others. It also attached properties worth about Rs 112 crore.
Gurugram: Suppressed bids and undervalued assets
The ED, which raided premises associated with Universal Buildwell Pvt Ltd in 2025, has alleged manipulation of the sale of company land during the resolution process. The agency seized about Rs 50 lakh in unexplained cash from two intermediaries, including an advocate practising before the NCLT. It said digital evidence pointed to proposed illicit consideration outside the formal IBC process and “predetermined and artificially suppressed bids”, including one submitted by the intermediary. The agency also alleged a nexus with an official of a private bank that was a secured creditor.
A related case involving Krrish Florence Estate and Angle Infrastructure has similarly brought the RP under the ED scanner. The project stayed incomplete for more than 10 years when homebuyers began insolvency proceedings. In December 2025, ED alleged collusion between promoter Amit Katyal and the RP and flagged the sale of two acres for Rs 31 crore against a CIRP valuation of Rs 160 crore. Searches yielded unexplained cash and digital evidence which, according to the agency, showed the alleged “collusive” conduct.
In response to an email by The Indian Express, Angle Infra RP Sarvesh Kashyap denied the ED allegations “in toto”. He further said, “The matter is sub judice and…it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on the given matter.…During my tenure, I acted strictly within the framework of the IBC, 2016.”
Amtek Auto: When 15 group firms underwent insolvency
The ED probe against Amtek Auto Ltd and other group companies began in 2024. Fifteen Amtek group companies went through insolvency, with claims of more than Rs 34,000 crore. According to the ED, they were resolved with an average haircut of about 81 per cent, with lenders recovering around Rs 6,300 crore.
The agency has alleged that promoters moved assets to front entities and benami persons through undervalued transfers even before the NCLT proceedings began. It also found about 500 shell companies allegedly used to hold movable and immovable properties worth more than Rs 6,000 crore from siphoned funds, and also alleged violations of IBC provisions by RPs. The ED has attached assets worth Rs 6,261 crore.
Bhasin, Kohinoor and other cases
The pattern recurs in several other investigations. In Bhasin Infotech, the agency alleged that customer advances for the Grand Venezia project were routed through related entities and that 384 commercial units valued at Rs 203 crore were transferred through “sham” and “backdated” agreements to another group entity. The agency has attached 389 properties worth Rs 240 crore and arrested promoter Satinder Singh Bhasin.
In Kohinoor Power, the ED has alleged that funds were siphoned to related entities through bogus transactions and used to acquire properties in the names of promoters and family members.
In Best Foods, Homestead Infrastructure and Golden Peacock, the ED arrested RP Jitesh Gupta in August and alleged that he re-admitted claims he had earlier rejected as “spurious and fraudulent” and changed the composition of the CoC, while facilitating a resolution plan allegedly linked to the former promoter. The NCLT last year recorded adverse findings against Gupta and directed his replacement as RP. Gupta was released on bail early this month. He refused to comment saying the matter was sub-judice.
In the Reliance Communications case, the ED has alleged that proceeds of the Rs 40,000-crore-plus bank fraud were used to acquire a Manhattan condominium that was sold during the CIRP without the RP’s knowledge or consent. The US$8.3-million proceeds were allegedly routed through a sham investment arrangement.
In JVL Agro, the ED alleged in 2024 that promoter Satya Narayan Jhunjhunwala created public-purpose trusts to transfer company shares and properties to evade insolvency proceedings and used shell companies to divert funds. The underlying bank fraud was pegged at about Rs 1,992 crore.
The probe into Bhushan Power and Steel illustrates the scale of value that can be lost before a company reaches resolution: the company, facing alleged bank fraud of Rs 47,204 crore, was resolved for about Rs 19,350 crore. The ED has pursued assets allegedly dissipated by the former promoters and attached about Rs 4,938 crore, of which Rs 4,025 crore has been restituted to the successful resolution applicant following a Supreme Court order.
At an ED conference in Bengaluru this week, the agency identified 'unearthing frauds' under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as its first operational thrust area. (Image generated using AI) 
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