The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached overseas assets worth ₹9,778 crore in connection with an alleged bank fraud case against the Sterling Biotech Limited (SBL) group and its promoters. The total value of attachments so far stands at ₹14,508 crore.
Among the attached properties are four Nigeria-based oil rigs and an oil field, several ships registered in Panama, an aircraft registered in the United States and a residential flat in London.
The oil rigs and oil field are in the name of Sterling Energy Exploration Private Co. Limited (SEEPCO), Nigeria. “The ships are held in the name of Atlantic Blue Water Services. Aircraft 200 Gulfstream is in the name of SAIB LLC… all these companies are controlled by SBL,” the ED said.
Last year, the ED had attached assets worth ₹4,730 crore in the case. It has been confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency had initiated the probe based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the group, its promoters Nitin, Chetan and Deepti Sandesara and others in October 2017.
The SBL group is alleged to have got loans from an Andhra Bank-led consortium, with the funds diverted for non-mandated purposes and laundered through a web of domestic and offshore entities. The loan funds were used to finance their Nigerian oil business and for the personal expenses of promoters.
The promoters allegedly used their employees’ names to incorporate 249 domestic and 96 offshore shell companies in various countries, including the United Arab Emirates, U.S., U.K., British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Barbados, Panama and Nigeria.
The group also indulged in round-tripping of standby letters of credit funds to the tune of ₹4,500 crore. They were later allowed to devolve on the guarantor banks, causing loss to them, according to the ED.
Their strategy included conducting circular transactions to artificially inflate turnover of flagship companies, claiming higher depreciation on non-existing machinery to avoid tax liabilities and artificial share-trading with shell companies, asserted the agency.
