Rs 25,000 Cr Bank Loan Fraud: ED Arrests Company Promoter

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday stated that the arrest of Arvind Dham, director and promoter of the Amtek Group, in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 25,000-crore bank loan fraud.

Dham was taken into custody on July 9 and presented before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi on Wednesday, which then placed him under ED custody for seven days.

The case against the company and its directors originates from a CBI FIR, following complaints from IDBI Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra. The ED alleges that the loans were diverted through cheating, fraud, and criminal breach of trust, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs 673.35 crore to the banks.

The Supreme Court directed the ED to investigate the case in February, following a public interest petition against the Amtek Auto group. Last month, the ED conducted raids at the premises of Dham, another director Gautam Malhotra, and others in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Nagpur.

The ED claims that the Amtek group defaulted on loans exceeding Rs 25,000 crore from over 15 banks. Companies within the Amtek group, such as ARG Limited, ACIL Limited, Amtek Auto Limited, Metallic Forging Limited, and Castex Technologies Limited, went into insolvency, resulting in a significant loss to the financial system, with banks facing an over 80% haircut.

The agency alleges that Dham was the “beneficial owner” of numerous benami properties held through various companies, with Amtek group employees, such as peons, drivers, and field boys, listed as directors. These properties were never disclosed to banks or creditors.

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