NEW DELHI: Indian investigators say a luxury London property near Buckingham Palace was bought with funds diverted from Indian banks, routed through offshore trusts and companies, and ultimately held under the beneficial ownership of a former textile executive and his family.
A High-Value Property Near Buckingham Palace
New Delhi — The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached an immovable property worth about ₹150 crore near Buckingham Palace in London, intensifying a money-laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank loan fraud involving textile major S Kumars Nationwide Ltd and its former chairman and managing director, Nitin Kasliwal.
The federal agency said the attachment was ordered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following an inquiry into the diversion of bank funds and their alleged use to acquire assets overseas. According to investigators, the London property qualifies as “proceeds of crime” generated from the alleged defrauding of a consortium of Indian banks.
Allegations of Loan Diversion and Offshore Routing
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Kasliwal of cheating a consortium of banks to the tune of approximately ₹1,400 crore through S Kumars Nationwide Ltd. Officials allege that loan funds were diverted out of India under the guise of foreign investments, rather than being used for their stated business purposes.
Once moved abroad, the funds were allegedly layered through multiple foreign jurisdictions and converted into immovable assets. The agency has said these transactions were deliberately structured to obscure the trail of ownership and to conceal the origins of the money.
Trusts, Companies, and Tax Havens
A detailed analysis of documents and electronic devices seized during raids conducted on December 23, investigators said, revealed what they described as a complex web of private trusts and companies across several offshore tax havens. These included entities registered in the British Virgin Islands, Jersey, and Switzerland.
Central to this structure, the agency said, was the Catherine Trust, formerly known as the Surya Trust. According to the Enforcement Directorate, Kasliwal and his family members were the primary beneficiaries of the trust. The trust, in turn, controlled Catherine Property Holding Limited, a company incorporated in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands.
It was this company, officials said, that held ownership of the London property that has now been attached under the PMLA.
International Enforcement and Next Steps
The Enforcement Directorate said the property was held under the “beneficial ownership” of Nitin Shambhukumar Kasliwal and his family members, despite being formally owned through offshore entities. Under Indian law, beneficial ownership is a key consideration in determining whether an asset can be treated as proceeds of crime.
After attaching assets located abroad, the agency typically approaches its counterpart authorities in the concerned country to seek assistance in taking possession of the property under applicable criminal provisions of anti–money laundering laws. Officials said such steps would follow in accordance with established international cooperation mechanisms.
