ED Conducts First Raid In Andamans Over Loan Fraud
Sources claimed that documents recovered during the raids point to large-scale irregularities in the granting of loans and overdraft facilities by the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative (ANSC) Bank.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted its first-ever searches in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged ₹200 crore cooperative bank loan fraud involving former Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma.
Officials said the agency’s teams raided nine locations in and around Port Blair and two in Kolkata under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sources claimed that documents recovered during the raids point to large-scale irregularities in the granting of loans and overdraft facilities by the Andaman Nicobar State Cooperative (ANSC) Bank. The role of the bank’s former vice-chairman, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, is also under ED scrutiny.
This marks the first time the ED has conducted searches under the anti-money laundering law in the Union Territory located in the Bay of Bengal.
The case pertains to the ANSC Bank and its former vice-chairman and Congress leader Sharma, who served as MP of the Union Territory from 2019 to 2024. He was arrested by the Andaman and Nicobar Police on July 18 from a local hospital. A court in Port Blair later remanded him to three days’ police custody on July 29.
Along with Sharma, seven others, including the bank’s Managing Director and an employee, have also been arrested by the police in connection with the case.
The ED’s case stems from an FIR registered on May 15 by the Crime and Economic Offences Wing of the Andaman and Nicobar Police. Investigators allege that around 15 entities or companies were created by the accused for the benefit of Sharma and fraudulently availed loans worth more than ₹200 crore from the ANSC Bank.
Sources said the documents collected show that loan facilities were extended to various shell companies in violation of established bank procedures and guidelines. A substantial portion of these funds was allegedly withdrawn in cash and paid to beneficiaries, including Sharma.
Earlier this month, Congress MP and the party’s in-charge for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manickam Tagore, called the investigation politically motivated and intended to defame the Congress. He maintained that the party has no involvement in the bank’s affairs.
The FIR also names several former board members, directors of the bank, and alleged beneficiaries.
