ED seizes Rs7.5-cr assets in fraud case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 28

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it had issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to seize 21 immovable properties and Rs 50 lakh deposit kept with Meliora Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd of Polepalli Venkata Prasad and his family members in connection with a loan fraud case.

The attached properties, worth Rs 7.57 crore, are located in Tanuku in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

Officials said the ED initiated the probe on the basis of an FIR registered by the Visakhapatnam anti- corruption wing of the CBI against Polepalli Venkata Prasad, managing partner of PBR Poultry Tech, and other partners for defrauding Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Veerabhadrapuram branch, Tanuku, West Godavari, to the tune of Rs 7.34 crore.

Investigation conducted under the PMLA revealed that PBR Poultry Tech had availed term loan worth Rs 5.60 crore from the IOB by grossly inflating the value of the mortgaged properties in collusion with panel advocates.

“The accused also obtained Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) loans in the name of his associates to the tune of Rs 1.74 crore. The loan amounts were diverted and not repaid. When the accused could not get more loan for this firm, they set up another shell firm for obtaining loan,” the officials added.