ED Raids 11 Places in Kolkata in Rs 290 Crore Bank Fraud Case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 11 premises in West Bengal's capital Kolkata in connection with a Rs 290 crore bank fraud case against Kohinoor Power Pvt Ltd. 

The search operation started early on Thursday, covering premises of the suspects linked to the case in close coordination with the security forces and the state police force.

In the search action, officials said, premises of the promoters of the group Prashant and Vijay Bothra, along with other directors, auditors, including office premises, are being covered.

ED investigation in the case so far revealed that Kohinoor Power Pvt Ltd availed loans from banks for a 66 MW power plant in Jharkhand, but the loans were siphoned off to other group entities and for personal uses. 

"The company ultimately went to NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and only Rs 7 crore could be recovered in liquidation, resulting in huge losses to the creditors," said the officials.

They said the searches are aimed at gathering more evidence linked to the case and to find out the money trail in the money laundering case being probed by the federal agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).