In a major follow-up action, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided SEL Textiles, a Ludhiana-based company, in connection with the case of a bank fraud of Rs 1530 crore. ED Sleuths carried out raids on at least 13 premises of SEL Textiles on Friday morning reportedly including many residential, commercial, and industrial properties in Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
ED officials are conducting these raids by forming separate teams along with paramilitary forces. The action is said to be a follow-up to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Information Report (ECIR) in connection with the investigation into the bank fraud case against the company. CBI had registered the case based on the complaint of the Central Bank of India. In the complaint, it was claimed that the company had committed fraud of Rs 1530 crore.
Notably, in February 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had provisionally attached properties worth Rs 828. The attached properties include land, buildings, and machinery in Ludhiana, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr), Alwar, and Hisar. As per reports, ED's investigation so far has revealed that SEL Textiles Limited had misused loan funds taken from a consortium of banks led by the Central Bank of India.
In the year 2020, the CBI had raided the houses and offices of the directors of the companies. After the raid, CBI had interrogated many people during the investigation. At the same time, director Neeraj Saluja was arrested.
It was alleged that the accused invested huge amounts of bank loans in their respective parties. At the same time, 'adjustment entries' were recorded later. To be precise, the accused allegedly showcased the purchase of machinery from non-reputed suppliers and produced invoices and bills for higher amounts. Apart from this, the accused misappropriated a huge amount of primary security in the form of a CC limit (stock, finished goods, etc).