ED attaches assets worth Rs 2.39 crore of former HAL GM, others over embezzlement charges

New Delhi, July 30

Assets worth Rs 2.39 crore of a former GM (finance) of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and five others have been attached under the anti-money-laundering in a probe linked to alleged funds fraud at the state-run aerospace major, the ED said on Saturday.

A provisional order for attaching movable and immovable properties of Bhaben Maitra, who served as the general manager (finance) of HAL, Bipra Charana Maharana, Sadananda Nayak, Jisudan Khosla, Jayaram Garada Jagannath Apat and late Urdhaba Khosla has been issued under  the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the central agency said in a statement.

The total value of these assets is Rs 2,39,38,681, it said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had booked the accused after taking cognisance of six FIRs filed against them by the Bhubaneswar anti-corruption branch (ACB) unit of the CBI on charges that they “embezzled Rs 18.75 crore of HAL by forging documents from 2013-18”.

The agency alleged that Maitra and others “acquired monetary proceeds through commission of crimes and indulged in criminal activities, generated proceeds of crime, concealed it and acquired various assets to hide their source and projected them as untainted”.