Bengaluru, Aug 6 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth approximately Rs 51.28 crore in connection with an alleged bank fraud and money laundering case involving M/s Deepak Cable (India) Ltd (DCIL), its promoters and associated entities.
According to an ED press release issued on Thursday, the attached properties have an estimated current market value of over Rs 150 crore. The attachment has been carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The investigation is based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Banking Securities and Fraud Branch (BS&FB), Bengaluru. The scheduled offences include criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal misconduct, allegedly causing wrongful losses to a consortium of banks.
The ED said its investigation revealed that Deepak Cable (India) Ltd, along with its Managing Director K. Venkateshwara Rao, Director Satyavathy Ball and other associated entities, fraudulently obtained multiple credit facilities from consortium banks by submitting manipulated financial statements, inflated stock statements and false debtor statements.
The agency alleged that the accused diverted and siphoned off loan funds through a network of related companies, including Surya Transmission Ltd, Adhunik Power Transmission Ltd, Dandeli Ferro Pvt Ltd, Sharavathy Conductors Pvt Ltd, Venkatesh Industries, Maruthi Engineering Works, Universal Transmission Line Products, KGN Electricals and other connected entities.
According to the ED, the diversion was carried out by creating fictitious sale and purchase transactions without any actual movement of goods. The agency further alleged that loan proceeds were utilised for purposes unrelated to the sanctioned objectives, including the buy-back of equity shares from private equity investors through related entities and the acquisition of assets.
Earlier in the investigation, the ED conducted searches under Section 17 of the PMLA at multiple premises linked to the accused and their associates. During the searches, officials seized several incriminating documents, digital devices and other records.
The ED had arrested Managing Director K. Venkateshwara Rao under Section 19 of the PMLA on June 2, 2026. He was subsequently remanded to ED custody. The agency also recorded statements of several accused persons, bank officials and witnesses under Section 50 of the PMLA during the course of the investigation.
The investigation further revealed that assets acquired directly from the alleged proceeds of crime, as well as equivalent-value properties held in the names of the accused, their family members and connected entities, had been identified.
The ED stated that since a substantial portion of the alleged proceeds of crime had been layered, diverted or could not be directly traced, equivalent-value properties were also provisionally attached under the PMLA to safeguard the proceeds of crime and prevent the frustration of confiscation proceedings.
The investigation in the case is continuing.
–IANS
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