Shakti Bhog money laundering case: ED files fresh chargesheet against 2 operatives

Enforcement Directorate has filed a fresh chargesheet against two operatives for allegedly providing fake business entries.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a fresh chargesheet against two operatives, who allegedly provided fake business entries, in connection with its money laundering probe against Shakti Bhog foods company in an alleged over Rs 3,269 crore bank loan fraud case.

The agency, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the prosecution complaint has been filed against Ashok Kumar Goel and Devki Nandan Garg before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here.

It charged the two, arrested by the ED in September, for having an "active involvement in the offence of money laundering in bank fraud of Rs 3269.42 crore by Shakti Bhog Foods Limited (SBFL)."

The agency accused Goel and Garg of "assisting Shakti Bhog Foods Limited and its directors in generation, acquisition, layering and siphoning off its loans funds through shell companies under their disposal”.

"They were actively involved in providing fake bills to the company without actual business transactions," it said in the chargesheet.

These fake bills, it alleged, "Facilitated inflated stock, turnover and purchase/sale of SBFL to enable it to secure enhanced credit facilities from consortium banks on the basis of this inflated financial reports."

It said the two were "beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime."

The money laundering case against Shakti Bhog Foods Limited was filed after studying a CBI FIR that charged it and others for criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct.

The agency had also arrested the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Shakti Bhog Foods Limited K K Sharma and a chartered accountant (CA) named Raman Bhuraria in this case.

It has attached assets worth over Rs 98 crore and filed its first chargesheet sometime back against the company, Kumar, Bhuraria and others.

The CBI FIR against the company and its promoters came about after the State Bank of India (SBI) registered a complaint against the company.

According to the SBI, the directors allegedly falsified accounts and forged documents to siphon off public funds. Also Read: Digital Lending Fraud: RBI panel finds 600 illegal loan apps on app stores

The 24-year-old company, which is into manufacturing and selling wheat, flour, rice, biscuits, cookies, etc, had grown organically as it ventured into food-related diversification over a decade with a turnover growth of Rs 1,411 crore in 2008 to Rs 6,000 crore in 2014, the bank complaint had said. Also Read: Elon Musk’s son X Æ A-XII joins him for a video call: WATCH viral video