ED freezes Singapore bank deposits linked to fugitive in Rs 1,200-crore loan fraud

The Enforcement Directorate attached ₹94.76 crore held in a Singapore bank account linked to fugitive economic offender Karan Chanana in a ₹1,200-crore loan fraud case involving Amira Pure Foods. Total assets attached in the case have now reached ₹226.26 crore

New Delhi: Funds worth more than Rs 94 crore deposited in a Singapore bank account of a fugitive economic offender have been attached in connection with a Rs 1,200-crore loan fraud case against a Delhi-based basmati rice trading company and its promoters, the ED said on Thursday.

The provisional attachment order has been served upon the accused, promoter of Amira Pure Foods Pvt Ltd (APFPL), Karan Chanana, through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty India has signed with the United Kingdom and Singapore, apart from other available means, the federal agency said in a statement.

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The action has been taken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it added. Chanana is based in the UK. He and co-promoter of the company Anita Daing were declared fugitive economic offenders under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018 by a special court in Delhi in February.

Daing is based in Dubai, according to the ED. The agency said bank deposits worth USD 10,034,819.01 (about Rs 94.76 crore as per current exchange value) deposited in the Bank of Singapore in the name of “main accused” Chanana and linked entities like Amira Pure Foods and Anantya Pte Ltd have been attached.

The money laundering case of 2022 stems from a 2020 CBI FIR registered against APFPL, Chanana, Daing, and others for allegedly committing fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, etc. and causing wrongful loss to the tune of Rs 1,201.85 crore to a consortium of banks led by Canara Bank.

The rice company has business operations in the US, the UK, the UAE, Germany, Mauritius and in some other countries, as per the ED. With the latest order, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 226.26 crore, according to the agency.