Ahmedabad: Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ahmedabad Zonal Office recently conducted search operations at 8 locations in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, including the residential premises of the directors of M/s Jyoti Power Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (JPCPL) and other associated persons, in connection with a bank fraud case registered against the company M/s Jyoti Power Corporation Pvt. Ltd. and its directors, Kamlesh Mavjibhai Katariya and Nitesh Mavjibhai Katariya.

ED initiated an investigation on the basis of a FIR registered by CBI, Bhopal, under various sections of IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on the allegations that M/s JPCPL and its promoter-directors and other unknown persons cheated and defrauded the IDBI Bank and Bank of India by availing credit facilities and misusing the funds to the tune of Rs. 196.82 crore. It has also come to light that the company defaulted on the repayment of Rs 100 crore (approximately) availed as a credit facility from IDBI Bank, for which the separate FIR has been registered with CBI, Mumbai.

The ED investigation revealed that various bank credit facilities were availed of by M/s JPCPL from the Bank of India and IDBI Bank for the business operations of the company. However, part of the amounts were siphoned off by its directors, and various instances of cash withdrawals through related entities have also come to light. Multiple instances of the release of letters of credit to various companies on the basis of forged and fabricated documents in connivance with other firms and their controllers have also come to light. It is also observed that directors have opened bank accounts with non-consortium banks, and total funds of Rs 167.43 crore as receivable from the different debtors and clients were diverted into these bank accounts outside the consortium.

The search operation resulted in the recovery and seizure of various incriminating digital records and documents, including details of immovable properties in the name of HUFs and insurance policies held in the name of kin of the directors of M/s Jyoti Power Corporation Pvt. Ltd. Further investigation is in progress. DeshGujarat