Recently, the Enforcement Directorate ( ED ) arrested three individuals, including a chartered accountant and a resolution professional, as part of a money laundering investigation tied to an alleged bank loan fraud. The fraud involved regaining control of an insolvent company from the National Company Law Tribunal ( NCLT ).
The arrested individuals are Chartered Accountant ( CA ) Rakesh Kumar Gulati, Ajay Yadav of resolution applicant firm Umaiza Infracon LLP, and a person identified as Paramjeet. They were taken into custody on July 1 by the ED’s Gurugram zonal office. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act ( PMLA ) court has remanded them to ED custody until July 9.
The case centers on Sunstar Overseas Ltd (SOL) and its former directors Rakesh Aggarwal, Rohit Aggarwal, Manik Aggarwal, Sumit Aggarwal, among others. The money laundering charges originate from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR against the company and its former promoters, accused of fraud, criminal misappropriation, breach of trust, cheating, and causing a wrongful loss of over ₹950 crore to a consortium of nine banks.
According to the ED, the ex-promoters and directors of SOL, in collusion with various entities, illegally diverted loan funds through sham trade transactions and fictitious debtors. The total claims against SOL amounted to ₹1,274.14 crore. The company was taken over through corporate insolvency resolution process ( CIRP ) proceedings for only ₹196 crore by Umaiza Infracon LLP, which the ED describes as a “shell” entity without its own funds.
The funds for Umaiza Infracon LLP were allegedly sourced from diverted funds from SOL, facilitated by the former directors and promoters of SOL and CA Rakesh Gulati. Following the NCLT order, SOL was taken over by Shivakriti Agro Pvt. Ltd. ( SAPL ), controlled by the ex-directors and promoters of SOL through a sham facility agreement.
Shivakriti Agro Pvt. Ltd. has been managed by the ex-directors and promoters of SOL through Paramjeet and other former employees. The ED alleges that Rakesh Gulati, the common CA of SOL and SAPL, along with related entities, played a key role in the conspiracy and diversion of loan funds to regain control of the insolvent company from the NCLT.
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