Bank fraud: SC grants bail to Amtek Group ex-chairperson in ED case

The Supreme Court granted bail to former Amtek Group chairperson Arvind Dham in a Rs 27,000 crore bank fraud and money laundering case, overturning the Delhi High Court’s denial, while ED investigations revealed large-scale diversion of public funds and attached assets worth over Rs 5,115 crore

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to former Amtek Group chairperson Arvind Dham in a money laundering case related to Rs 27,000 crore bank fraud.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe set aside a Delhi High Court order which had denied bail to him.

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Justice Aradhe, who was sitting in a bench led by Justice PS Narasimha, pronounced the verdict, saying the court has allowed the appeal of Dham in the case.

The Delhi High Court had denied bail to Dham on August 19 last year, saying premature release could risk undermining efforts to secure accountability.

“With the advancement of technology and Artificial Intelligence, economic offences such as money laundering have emerged as a serious threat to the financial system of the country. These offences pose a significant challenge for investigating agencies, given the complex and intricate nature of the transactions and the involvement of multiple actors,” the high court had said.

The high court added that a meticulous and thorough investigation was essential to ensure that innocent persons were not wrongfully implicated and that the actual offenders were brought to justice.

“The complexity of the case, the multiplicity of transactions, and the layered corporate structures necessarily entail a protracted trial,” it had said.

The high court had said that the principle that economic offences warrant stringent treatment in bail matters was not absolute. However, “in cases involving large-scale diversion of public funds, the gravity of the offences assumes overriding significance.” “Given the serious repercussions for the economy and the banking sector, such offences undermine public confidence and harm depositors and creditors.

Granting bail too liberally in such matters risks sending a counterproductive signal. Granting bail at this juncture would risk compromising both the trial and public confidence in the justice system. Continued custody is thus warranted,” it had said.

Earlier, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 550 crore of Amtek Group firms, an insolvent automotive equipment manufacturing company, under the anti-money-laundering law.

Action was taken against Amtek Auto Limited, ARG Limited, ACIL limited, Metalyst Forging Limited, Castex Technologies Limited and Amtek Group promoter Arvind Dham, apart from some others, the ED had said.

Properties worth Rs 5,115.31 crore were attached by the agency in September, 2024.

The ED probe began under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the directions of the Supreme Court on February 27, 2024.

Dham was arrested by the agency in July, 2024 and chargesheeted in September, 2024.

The probe found the companies, along with other group concerns, were taken to insolvency, whose resolution led to a haircut of more than 80 per cent for the banks, causing “substantial” losses to these public sector financial institutions.

The financial statements of group companies were “deceitfully manipulated” to obtain additional fraudulent loans and create bogus assets and investments in the books of accounts, the agency alleged.

The provisionally-attached assets include 145 acres of land in Rajasthan and Punjab, some properties in Delhi-NCR valued in total at Rs 342 crore, apart from fixed deposits and bank balances worth Rs 112.5 crore.

All the Amtek assets are identified as “direct proceeds of crime” and held through several companies beneficially owned by Dham and assets of Amtek companies held by bankers who sanctioned the loans, according to the ED.