The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided ten premises—nine in Delhi-NCR and one in Jalandhar—on June 25, as part of an extensive money-laundering investigation tied to an alleged ₹988 crore bank loan fraud involving Shilpi Cables Technologies Ltd (SCTL) and its promoters. The operation carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from a CBI FIR and targets alleged misuse of letter-of-credit transactions to siphon foreign loans through bogus trade deals.
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The ED conducted targeted searches at nine locations across Delhi and one in Ludhiana, focusing on properties linked to SCTL, its managing director Manish Goel, and associated entities. Investigators are scrutinizing supposed “Letters of Credit” (LCs), which were allegedly manipulated to divert substantial credit facilities abroad through fabricated transactions.
Preliminary findings suggest that shell companies were used extensively. These entities—possibly controlled by SCTL’s MD—were set up to rotate funds and inject cash via fictitious arrangements, effectively laundering loan proceeds. Evidence suggests these bogus sales and purchase entries inflated receivables and masked loan defaults, while assets were acquired in the names of related dummy firms.
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CBI’s original FIR accused the SCTL promoters and associates of cheating a consortium of lenders led by IDBI Bank. The ED’s probe leans on this foundation, suspecting illicit funds routing abroad via fraudulent trade transactions.
Officials say that the company allegedly booked large overseas receivables—about ₹400 crore—from foreign entities during 2015–2016. However, evidence indicates that no actual supplies were made; stock transfers were credited only on paper. The ED now aims to trace assets and transactions and to bring the culpable promoters and entities to justice under PMLA.
About the Author – Anirudh Mittal is a B.Sc. LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, with a keen interest in corporate law and tech-driven legal change.