The Enforcement Directorate conducted extensive searches on Friday across multiple locations in Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with an alleged 290-crore-rupee bank loan fraud involving Kohinoor Power Private Limited. Coordinated agency teams carried out operations in Chandil in Jharkhand, as well as Howrah, Uttarpara in Hooghly district, Lake Town, and Asansol in West Bengal. Investigators covered the residences and offices of chartered accountants associated with the firm alongside other individuals suspected of links to the financial irregularities. Enforcement officers seized a significant volume of financial records and electronic equipment during the drive. In Seraikela-Kharsawan district, investigators also searched the defunct plant premises of Kohinoor Steel Company situated at Khunchidih village under the Chauka police station jurisdiction. The site inspection lasted for nearly eight hours, with federal officials recording the entire procedure on video.
Loan Sanctioned for Power Project Siphoned Through Shell Entities
The central investigation stems from credit facilities amounting to approximately 290 crore rupees secured by Kohinoor Power Private Limited between 2008 and 2013 from a consortium of commercial lenders led by Bank of Baroda. The banking consortium sanctioned the credit facilities to fund the construction of a 66-megawatt power plant at Khunchidih village. Federal investigators suspect that rather than deploying the borrowed capital toward plant construction, the firm diverted the funds into accounts belonging to more than 100 shell entities linked to the business group. The agency is currently scrutinizing transactions, financial documentation, and retrieved digital records to establish the precise routes used to move the borrowed money and identify the end beneficiaries of the diverted loan capital.
Promoters Allegedly Channeled Diverted Capital into Kolkata Properties
Promoters Vijay Bothra and Prashant Bothra, along with members of their family, face allegations of employing forged documentation and manipulative accounting practices to siphon public borrowings. Investigating authorities suspect that the money was systematically layered across multiple business vehicles before being used to purchase immovable real estate across Kolkata. Enforcement officials are verifying asset ownership structures to determine whether the properties were bought directly using proceeds from the consortium credit facilities. The targeted searches at premises belonging to affiliated chartered accountants aim to clarify the role played by financial advisers in structuring the transactions and preparing the paperwork used during the process.
Liquidation Recovers Seven Crores Against Massive Consortium Exposure
The financial fallout for the lending banks widened sharply following the initiation of insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal in 2018. During the subsequent liquidation process in 2019, the consortium managed to recover roughly 7 crore rupees against total exposure exceeding 290 crore rupees, leaving the institutions with a loss exceeding 97.5 percent of their original credit deployment. The Kohinoor Group had initially entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Jharkhand government in 2005 to develop integrated power and steel facilities. After acquiring project land, the group set up only superficial infrastructure before drawing large bank credit. The planned power unit was never completed, and the account turned into a non-performing asset in 2015 after continuous debt service defaults. The industrial complex and administrative offices have remained shuttered for several years.
