Congress leader Ahmed Patel to be questioned again on June 30

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will question senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel again on June 30 (Tuesday) in connection with the Sandesara brothers money laundering case. A team of ED on Saturday reached his residence in the national capital and recorded his statement in a Rs 5,000 crore money laundering case involving Sterling Biotech Ltd, a company promoted by the absconding Sandesara brothers.

The ED team questioned him for about eight hours at his residence. The agency had gone to the senior Congress leader to record his statement in the case. Patel was earlier summoned for questioning in the case but he cited COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions and expressed his inability to appear before the Enforcement Directorate.

The CBI has alleged that the Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech Ltd had taken loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank which has turned into non-performing assets. The FIR has alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.

The Sandesaras - Nitin and Chetan are allegedly hiding in Nigeria with which India does not have an extradition treaty. 

On June 26, the CBI carried out raids at over half a dozen of locations in Delhi and Noida,  which were linked to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's nephew, in connection with a fresh FIR registered in a case related to alleged loss of Rs 787.25 crore to PNB and another consortium of banks.

A CBI official told IANS that the raids came in the wake of a fresh case being registered recently on a complaint by PNB against MBSL and others, including its Directors and other unknown persons and bank officials.