The Enforcement Directorate is investigating "public officials" for suspected bribery of about Rs 140 crore in connection with the Rs 8,100-crore alleged bank loan fraud involving a Gujarat-based firm, the agency said on Tuesday.

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The agency said the investigation in this aspect is under process as it filed a fresh charge sheet in the case of Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech group before a special court here.

The central agency said its probe in the case has "revealed that the loan funds were diverted for non-mandated purposes to shell companies and were withdrawn as cash.

"Cash to the tune of Rs 140 crore was withdrawn from shell companies and were used for the personal purposes of the promoters which also includes bribing of public officials," the ED said in a statement.

The ED and the CBI are already probing the role of three senior Income Tax Department officers in this case after diary notings purportedly referring to their names were seized and the name of few more government officials is under the scanner, a senior official said.

The name of CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, currently embroiled in a tussle with his Director Alok Verma, has also been linked in this case after diary notings with initials "RA" were seized.

Asthana has, however, not been named by either the ED or CBI in their respective FIRs filed in this case.

The ED on Tuesday filed a voluminous charge sheet, also called prosecution complaint, and named the main promoters of the firm Nitin Sandesara, his brother Chetan Sandesara and a few of their family members.

A total of 191 accused, 7 individuals and 184 companies, has been named in the charge sheet filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The others include Sterling Biotech Director Rajbhushan Dixit, CA Hemant Hathi, Chetan Sandesara's wife Dipti, Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan and Hitesh Patel.

The agency said it will soon initiate action under the newly enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act against the Sandesaras and others.

"The companies include Sterling Biotech Ltd, PMT Machines Limited, Sterling SEZ and Infra Ltd, Sterling Port Limited, Sterling Oil Resources Limited and 179 shell companies," the agency said.

The ED alleged that the Sandesaras "hatched a criminal conspiracy for dishonestly cheating banks and manipulated figures in the balance sheets of their flagship companies and induced banks to sanction higher loans."

"After obtaining loans, they diverted the loans to non-mandated purposes through a web of shell companies. Thus, the loan funds were diverted layered and laundered by the promoters for their personal purposes. The total amount of loan fraud as on date is Rs 8,100 crore and it pertains to domestic as well as offshore branches of Indian banks," it said.

The ED said Sandesaras used the names of their employees and allegedly floated 249 shell firms or dummy companies.

"All these shell companies were controlled, managed and beneficially owned by the promoters and were actually used in the process of money laundering," it said.

It alleged that the businessmen brothers, who are now absconding and said to be based abroad, "created a web of corporate and accounting structure abroad" and 100 such entities were floated in the UAE, the US, the UK, British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Barbados and Nigeria among others.

"It is revealed during probe that the funds were rotated through various structures and ultimately carried to Nigeria to finance their (Sandesara's) oil business," the ED said.

The agency has arrested four people in this case till now-- Dhawan, Dixit, ex-Director of Andhra Bank Anup Garg and an alleged aiade of Dhawan, Ranjeet Malik.

Assets to the tune of Rs 4,710 crore have been attached by the ED in this case till now even as the agency said it has seized Rs 15 lakh documents as part of its probe.

First Published:Oct 23, 2018 8:31 PM IST