ED arrests MD of Hyderabad-based firm in money-laundering case linked to bank fraud

New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) The ED on Thursday said it has arrested the "prime accused", the managing director of a Hyderabad-based telecom equipment manufacturing company, in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged fraud of Rs 3,316 crore at a consortium of public sector banks.

V Hima Bindu, MD of VMCL, was arrested on Wednesday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

She was produced before a court in Hyderabad that sent her to judicial custody till August 18.

It said the woman was "not responding to the ED summons, not supplying the documents of her companies and transactions on one pretext or the other and blatantly lying regarding their foreign transactions".

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case of money laundering against the firm and its promoters is based on a CBI FIR filed against them earlier.

"VMCSL had taken loans from a consortium of banks and the present dues outstanding to all the banks is Rs 3,316 crore.

"Forensic audit revealed that VMCSL circulated loans to various related entities to inflate its books of accounts," the ED alleged in a statement issued here.

It said the audit also revealed that PISL, one of the entities related to VMCSL, was given a three-per cent commission by the latter for all receipts from the BSNL, "without any specific role" of the firm in BSNL tenders.

"Forensic audit found VMCSL had opened various Letters of Credit worth Rs 692 crore in the name of fake or dummy entities, which were subsequently devolved," it alleged.

Bindu, the ED claimed, through her company and "with the active assistance of her brother V Satish (MD of PISL), in order to dodge the banks, created false and exaggerated operational revenues by generating fake sales and purchase invoices through the firms controlled by their directors and family members".

She "siphoned off" a part of the proceeds of crime by remitting it to the overseas entities controlled by her family members, the agency alleged.

The ED said it raided the premises of Bindu and others on July 20 and recovered "incriminating documents and digital data in the form of 40 external hard discs, six mobile phones and two laptops". PTI NES RC