Enforcement Directorate attaches Rs 483-cr properties of Tayal Group

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties worth Rs 483 crore of Mumbai-based KSL and Industries Ltd for allegedly fraudulently availing loans worth Rs 524 crore from Bank of India and Andhra Bank in 2008, the agency said on Tuesday.

KSL and Industries Ltd is a firm of Tayal Group, which is promoted by the family of industrialist Pravin Kumar Tayal, the ED said and added that the attached properties comprise 270,374 commercially diverted square feet of land as well as a shopping mall in Nagpur.

The ED investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was prompted by three FIRs filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against three different Tayal Group companies -- Actiff Corporation Ltd, Jaybharat Textiles and Real Estate Ltd, and KKTL and Eskay Knit (India) Ltd.

"Our investigation has revealed that Mumbai-based companies M/s Actiff Corporation Ltd, M/s Jaybharat Textiles & Real Estate Ltd, M/s KKTL and M/s Eskay Knit (India) Ltd of Tayal Group availed loans to the tune of Rs 524 crore by defrauding the Bank of India and Andhra Bank during 2008," said the ED.

It was also revealed that these firms created a maze of shell companies for money laundering, said the agency and added that the shell companies routed the funds to these companies of Tayal Group, which in turn used the money for creation of assets in the name of KSL and Industries Ltd, Mumbai.

Earlier in another similar case involving UCO Bank, the ED attached Tayal Group properties worth Rs 234 crore. Tayal Group siphoned off funds obtained from UCO Bank and the accounts became non-performing assets, the agency said.

The total attachments of the Group so far are worth Rs 717 crore.

"A prosecution complaint has also been filed in the matter before a special PMLA court and further investigations are in progress," the ED added.