The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted raids in seven places across the National Capital Region in connection with the Rs 5,000-crore money laundering case against the director and associates of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech Limited, PTI reported.
Seven residential and business premises linked to Sanjiv Mahajan, Arvind Gupta, Ghanshyam Panda and Lakshmi Chand Sharma were searched, officials said. The places were located in Mayur Vihar, Dwarka, Ghaziabad and Central Delhi. The Enforcement Directorate is also reportedly investigating if these people had any links to high-ranking politicians.
The search teams seized documents and computer hardware such as hard drives and CDs. The agency suspects that electronic evidence related to the transaction records were manipulated or destroyed, an official said.
On October 28, the Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a fresh case against the company for defaulting loans worth Rs 5,383 crore. The CBI had alleged that the company had taken the loans from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which have turned into non-performing assets.
The agency had booked Sterling Biotech’s directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, Chartered Accountant Hemant Hathi, former Director of Andhra Bank Anup Garg and other unidentified people.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!