ED seizes 431 kg Gold & Silver from company accused of loan fraud

New Delhi: During a raid, the Enforcement Directorate recovered 431 kgs of gold and silver, valued at more than Rs 47 crore, on Wednesday. The raid was conducted at the secret lockers of a bullion company which is accused of bank loan fraud, PTI reported.

The probe agency said in a statement that the raid was conducted at the premises of Raksha Bullion and Classic Marbles in connection with the mentioned case against a company Parekh Aluminex Ltd.

The agency found secret private lockers at the premises, it said, and added, "Upon searching the private lockers, it was found that the locker operation was being done without following proper norms. No KYC was followed, and there was no CCTV camera installed at the premise, and there was no in and out register."

Agency said that there were 761 lockers at the premise, and three of them belonged to Raksha Bullion.

ED said, "Upon operating the lockers, 91.5 kgs of gold (bars) and 152 kg of silver were found in two lockers which were seized."

"An additional 188 kgs of silver was also seized from the premises of Raksha Bullion," the agency added.

ED explained that the case of money laundering against Parekh Aluminex Ltd. was from 2018, that the company allegedly cheated banks and took loans of Rs 2,296.58 crores in total. The amount was later siphoned off by layering through various companies.

"The money was routed to various accounts in the context of providing unsecured loans and investments. The same was not the purpose of taking the loans, and there were no agreements in place for such transactions," it said.

In 2019, the agency had attached above Rs 205 crore worth of assets in relation to the case.