Rs 1,626 Crore Money Laundering Case: Ashoka University Co-Founders Sent To 5 Days Remand

The Enforcement Directorate has got five days' remand of Ashoka University co-founders Vineet Gupta and Pranav Gupta in connection with the Rs 1,626 crore money laundering case. Earlier today, the ED continued its searches against the pharma company Parabolic Drugs for the second day and widened its net by including the Ashoka University's corporate and registered offices in Delhi and the campus in Haryana's Sonepat under its probe net. Vineet Gupta and Pranav Gupta are also the promoters of the Parabolic Drugs.

The money-laundering case is linked to an alleged bank fraud. The Guptas, who are also co-founders of Ashoka University in Sonepat, resigned from their positions at the educational institution in 2022. This decision came in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiating a case against them and the company in 2021. 

#Breaking | 1600 करोड़ रुपये Bank Fraud का मामला, अशोका यूनिवर्सिटी के 2 फाउंडर मेंबर सहित 3 लोगों को ईडी ने मनी लॉन्ड्रिंग के आरोप में किया गिरफ्तार #AshokaUniversity #LoanFraud #ED | @ramm_sharma @capt_ivane pic.twitter.com/hToEqysBsV — Zee News (@ZeeNews) October 28, 2023

The ED today produced the three people before a special PMLA court in Chandigarh and got five days custody.

The university had issued a statement yesterday saying that the ED sought information in the matter of investigations into the case of Parabolic Drugs where Ashoka University founders, Vineet Gupta and Pranav Gupta, are directors. It also said that the pharma company was 'in no way linked to the Ashoka University'.

"Ashoka University has no past or current relationship with Parabolic Drugs, the company being investigated, and any attempt to create a link is without any basis and misleading," it had said.

The money-laundering case is rooted in a CBI FIR, where the promoters and the pharmaceutical company faced charges of defrauding a consortium of banks, primarily led by the Central Bank of India, with an amount totaling Rs 1,626.74 crore. According to inside sources, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reason to believe that the Guptas engaged in diverting bank loan funds amounting to approximately Rs 7 crore towards the university.