On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided over eight locations in Maharashtra’s Nagpur linked to several businessmen and entry operators in connection with an alleged Rs-1,000 crore investment fraud case.
The ED searched the properties of R Sandesh, promoter Ramdev Agarwal, businessman Sanjay Agarwal, Pankaj Mehadia, and his associates.
According to sources, the case is related to an investment fraud-cum-money laundering racket run by Pankaj Mehadia and his accomplices where they duped investors of hundreds of crores and laundered huge amounts of money.
The primary case was filed by Nagpur Police in connection with a Rs-8.16 crore investment fraud in which investors invested money in three companies owned by Mehadia and his associates in exchange for large returns. Mehadia repaid the investors for two to three years, but in 2017, he stopped paying many of them and declared his company bankrupt at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Pankaj Mehadia had lured various businessmen from across Maharashtra to invest in his companies, including Mehadia Sales Trade Corporation, Mehadia Sales Trade Corporation Pvt Ltd, Ms Nandlal D Mehadia, Lokesh Metalicks, Sadguru Enterprises and Nand Sons Logistics Ltd. After declaring himself out-of-cash, Mehadia and his accomplices informed NCLT that they were unable to return the investors’ money. Sources said many investors did not come forward to complain against Mehadia because most of the investments were made in cash and the sum was in crores.
The ED learned about the racket run by Mehadia and his accomplices and also tracked the diversion of funds to some companies and their promoters, which were raided on Friday.
The total amount of investments made in Mehadia’s companies as per sources is close to Rs 1,000 crores and if the interests of the investors promised to them are added, then the amount goes beyond Rs 2,000 crores.
ED officials would soon start issuing summons to those involved in the case and also to the investors to find out the exact amount.