ED arrests main accused

JALANDHAR: The enforcement directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Vikram Seth, the prime accused in the 2015 Bank of Baroda ₹21-crore loan fraud case registered in Chandigarh, from Phagwara, an official said.

The ED had taken over the probe after the CBI registered an FIR against Seth and his family members under Prevention of Money Laundering Act at its zonal office in Jalandhar. The case was being investigated by ED assistant director Jagwinderpal Singh.

The ED said the CBI investigations revealed that Seth, in connivance with other accused and officials of Bank of Baroda, fraudulently got sanctioned 19 loans totalling ₹21.31 crore and the money was routed through various accounts of associated firms through a web of transactions.

“Investigations revealed that Seth had invested the loan money in acquiring immovable assets in the name of his family members, including wife, son, brother and brother’s wife,” the ED said. These family did not have any legitimate source of income to acquire any such immovable assets, the ED said.

In May 2020, The ED attached 42 immovable and seven movable properties worth ₹18.5 crore belonging to Seth and his family members in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The attached assets consisted of 20 residential plots, six industrial plots, one house, three tracts of agricultural land, two brick kilns and 10 commercial plots located in Phagwara and Banga of Punjab, and Una district of HP.