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TMI Blog2024 (10) TMI 152X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned order passed by Ld. Adjudicating Authority was just an interim order/step to protect the same, till the conclusion of trial. There are no illegality in the impugned order. Therefore, the Ld. Counsel for the appellants not agreed upon and hence, the present appeals are liable to be dismissed being devoid of any merits. However, seeing the fact that prosecution complaint is already filed, the present appellants are entitled to the copies of all relied upon documents/seized material and he has right to apply for release of all un-relied documents (if any), if the same are not required for any further investigation. The present appeals are hereby dismissed. - SHRI G.C. MISHRA : MEMBER AND SHRI RAJESH MALHOTRA : MEMBER For the Appellant : Mr. S.K. Nanda, Adv. Mr. Shivam Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aman Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Vanshika, Adv. For the Respondent : Mr. Arjun Sawhney, Adv. Mr. Rohan Bhambri, Adv. ORDER Dictated by : Rajesh Malhotra Present appeals u/s 26 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, is filed by the appellants against the impugned order dated 12.09.2017 passed by the Adjudicating Authority in Original Application No. 93/2017, whereby it allowed the respondent ED to r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... M.S. Dullat, is the father in-law of Accused No.1 and is Director in M/s Vyapar Agrotech Ltd. in which the Accused No. 5 Mr. Amanpreet Singh Sodhi is another Director. v) The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB in short) has informed that the Accused No.1 (Ashu Mehra), the master mind, was indulging in issuing Letters of Comfort (LOC)/ Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) through swift messages fraudulently in collusion with others to cheat the Bank. Further, the overseas banks had provided Buyers Credit to their customers on the basis of the LOUs issued by the IOB, Chandigarh and hence the said overseas banks were demanding IOB to remit the said amount to them. It has been further informed by the IOB that on verification of their records, it was found that no such request for LOU to the Buyers Credit was authorized by the Branch Manager and LOUs were issued fraudulently through swift messages by Ashu Mehra and other bank staff (Accused Nos. 2 3) by abusing their official position. vi) Ashu Mehra of IOB, in collusion with other staff members, by indulging in aforesaid modus-operandi, had created liability against the bank to the tune of Rs. 321 crores (calculated at the exchange rate of Rs.67/- per ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by accused Ashu Mehra since 2012. It was noticed that the payments in respect of all the Buyers Credit, except for those mentioned in Table No.1, were made back to the banks in time before due date. The investigation has revealed that Ashu Mehra by way of issuance of illegal swift messages, vide which Buyers Credit facilities were granted to the Indian importers and payments thereof, were made to M/s. Colour Wave (H K) Ltd., Hong Kong, had created a liability of Rs. 321 crores on the Indian Overseas Bank, Branch at Sector 7, Chandigarh. This amount of Rs. 321 crores are still outstanding on IOB. In order to unearth/trace the proceeds of crime under PMLA on 07.04.2017 searches u/s 17 of PMLA were conducted on various places/premises. Thereafter, many bank accounts, lockers and properties were frozen. Thereafter, Original Application being OA No. 93 of 2017 (OA) in ECIR No. CDZO/06/2016 was filed by the respondent under section 17(4) of the PMLA, 2002, in May 2017 seeking for directions to retain certain articles/vehicles/ documents seized and properties the bank accounts frozen by the respondent, as listed in the aforesaid OA No. 93 of 2017. The said OA No. 93 of 2017 was allowed v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eet Singh Page 1), Annexure IV (Copies of Stock Register, Balance Sheet, ITR, Trial Balance) were seized during the searches at residential premises of Ashu Mehra situated at H. No. 267, Sector 10A, Chandigarh. As regards the properties above, it is stated by the Ld. Counsel for the appellant that the said land/properties have been purchased much before the period of scheduled offence and the said properties/assets/bank accounts cannot be seized by the respondent solely on the ground that the main accused Ashu Mehra is the Karta of the HUF. Prayer is accordingly made to allow the present appeal and thereby direct the respondent ED to release the above bank accounts and properties attached. 4. On the other hand, Ld. Counsel for respondent ED submitted that certain bank accounts were identified belonging to the accused and their associate companies as a result of information and also as a result of searches conducted by the respondent ED. Mr. Ashu Mehra along with other bank officials of Indian Overseas Bank main branch Chandigarh fraudulently intercepted messages and issued letter of conformity/letter of undertaking to the foreign banks for the Buyers Credit extended by them. The pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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