The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the chairman of Associate High Pressure Technologies Private Limited (AHPTPL) last Friday under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, for allegedly defrauding and causing a wrongful loss of Rs 149.89 crore to a bank.
Manoharlal Satramdas Agicha was produced before the special PMLA court in Mumbai, and the court granted custody to the agency for three days.
Agicha had been absconding during the investigation into the case, and did not appear before the ED despite numerous summons. The agency claimed he frequently changed his location and phones and SIM cards. Finally, on November 10, Agicha was found hiding in his home in Pune.
The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered by the CBI under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Associate High Pressure Technologies and its directors / shareholders.
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The ED’s investigation revealed that the loan amount was illegally diverted through fictitious Inland Letters of Credit, bogus unsecured loans, commissions to related entities, along with other methods. In this case, the ED had already conducted nine searches in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kandla and Pune.
Ramchand Kotumal Issrani, managing director of the company, was earlier arrested by the ED on August 8, 23. He is currently in judicial custody. A chargesheet has also been filed in the case on October 4.
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