New Delhi–Two days after the arrest of Farouk Irani, former managing director of a Chennai-based First Leasing Company of India Limited (FLCIL), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached over Rs 51 crore fixed deposits belonging to him, his family and the Irani family maintenance trust, an official said.
Separate ED teams conducted simultaneous searches at the residential premises of Irani and his family members in Chennai and Mumbai, which resulted in the recovery of fixed deposits of about Rs 51 crore.
“We have provisionally attached fixed deposits of over Rs 51 crore of Farouk Irani which are in the name of him, his family members and Irani family maintenance trust,” an ED official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
The agency had arrested Irani on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 for alleged fraud of about Rs 522 crore with public sector banks. Irani is presently lodged in Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai.
“The investigation conducted so far disclosed that Farouk Irani was instrumental in the entire fraud and in the process he enriched himself to the tune of about Rs 100 crore,” the official said.
Earlier, based on the report of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) audit inspection stating FLCIL’s accounts falsified, the consortium of the lending banks had conducted a forensic audit of the company’s accounts which revealed that its accounts were falsified so as to show inflated incomes and profits to the tune of over Rs 1,600 crore.
FLCIL is a listed company registered under the Companies Act, 1956. It is a non-banking financial company registered with the RBI. Irani was the key person involved in the affairs of the company.
Based on the complaint filed by IDBI bank in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bangalore, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against FLCIL and its officials for alleged fraud of Rs 274 crore with the bank.
The CBI on June 8, 2016 registered another FIR following the complaint of SBI bank against FLCIL which claimed to have cheated by the company to the tune of Rs 248 crore.
Accordingly, ED registered a money laundering case in Chennai against the company and started investigations into these bank fraud cases of about Rs 522 crore. (IANS)
