ED Attaches Rs 121-Cr Assets In Bank Scam, Ex-MP Named
The latest attachment includes a hotel, land parcels and two tourist vessels, taking the total value of attached assets in the alleged fraud to Rs 326.91 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it had attached assets worth Rs 121.35 crore, including two semi-submarine tourist vessels imported from Croatia, a hotel, land parcels and bank deposits, in connection with an alleged Rs 500-crore cooperative bank fraud in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The agency said a provisional attachment order covering 35 immovable and five movable properties was issued on November 5 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A supplementary prosecution complaint, equivalent to a chargesheet, was filed before a special PMLA court in Port Blair on November 6.
Former Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma, who served as vice-chairman of the Andaman and Nicobar State Co-operative Bank (ANSCBL), is among the main accused. He was earlier arrested and chargesheeted by the ED.
The money-laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Crime and Economic Offences Cell of the Andaman and Nicobar Police.
According to the ED, the attached properties include the land and building of Joye Grand Hotel and two semi-submarine tourist vessels imported from Croatia for approximately Rs 2.11 crore.
The vessels, registered in the name of Andaman Escapades Pvt. Ltd., were allegedly purchased for Sharma using funds obtained through a fraudulent loan sanctioned to a shell company, Heyday Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd.
The agency alleged that Sharma, in collusion with bank officials and associates, secured loans through shell companies in violation of banking regulations. The funds were subsequently diverted and never repaid.
It further alleged that senior bank officials, including Sharma and the bank's former managing director K. Murugan, who has since died, received bribes amounting to approximately five per cent of the sanctioned loans.
In several cases, loans were allegedly sanctioned for inflated amounts, with portions of the funds withdrawn in cash or routed through shell companies.
The ED said several attached properties had been acquired through powers of attorney or sale agreements in the names of borrowers, accused persons and dummy directors.
With the latest attachment, the total value of assets attached in the case has reached Rs 326.91 crore.
The agency filed its first chargesheet in November 2025. The two prosecution complaints together name 52 accused persons and entities.
