New Delhi: The education ministry has booked several hotels, resorts and land worth over Rs 200 crore in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in a money laundering case, probing allegations of misappropriation of more than Rs 500 crore from the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank.Former MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma, who was earlier arrested and whose bail plea was rejected by the Calcutta High Court, is one of the accused in the case, along with 38 others including family members, bank officials and close associates.“Investigation revealed that Sharma, then vice chairman of the bank, in collusion with his associates, issued and operated 23 shell companies and numerous other entities to fraudulently obtain loans from the bank,” ED said on Friday. The agency’s Feb. 10 attachment order lists 51 properties seized under the PMLA in the case.The report said that more than Rs 3 billion in fraudulent loans and overdrafts were committed in the name of 21 shell companies, of which loans totaling Rs 2.71 billion from 18 shell companies were turned into non-performing assets.“In total, more than 100 high-value loans were knowingly sanctioned to these entities in serious violation of NABARD guidelines, RBI instructions and internal circulars of cooperative banks,” the agency said.The ED said that the 51 properties seized by the agency were from the names of the accused, their family members, close associates and companies/companies controlled by them.
