ED seizes assets worth Rs 27 crore of Delhi-based Atlas Jewellery in bank fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized assets worth Rs 27 crore from Delhi-based Atlas Jewellery in connection with a bank fraud case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 27 crore after conducting searches at the premises linked to New Delhi-based Atlas Jewellery India Limited (AJIL) in a money laundering case, officials said.

The search operation by the officials was conducted on January 20 and 22 at the business premises and bank lockers of Atlas Jewellery India Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at three places in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and New Delhi.

A total seizure of around Rs 27 crore in the form of fixed deposits, Indian currency, gold, silver, and diamond jewellery has been made by the financial probe agency.

The ED had initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Kerala Police against Atlas Jewellery, MM Ramachandran, and Indira Ramachandran for cheating the South Indian Bank’s Round South Branch at Thrissur in Kerala.

The accused, allegedly with the intention of cheating, presented forged documents before the bank and availed a loan of Rs 242.40 crore during the period from March 21, 2013 to September 26, 2018. They did not repay the money back to the bank.

"During the investigation, it was revealed that MM Ramachandran had invested Rs 100 crore by way of the purchase of equity shares of Atlas Jewellery India Limited (AJIL), New Delhi, and transferred another Rs 14 crore into the Escrow Account with Axis Bank, New Delhi," said the ED.

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