The Enforcement Directorate, Chandigarh, has on Tuesday raided 11 premises linked with Ashok Mittal, Sourabh Dhingra, Bharat Bhushan Mittal, Raman Singhal, and others in Karnal, Delhi, and Goa in relation to an investigation against M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd.
The case is based on a CBI FIR against M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd, its directors, and others for offences under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with a bank scam causing a loss of approximately Rs 155.21 crore to Oriental Bank of Commerce and consortium banks.
According to the ED, AAP leader Deepak Singla, his brother Raman Singhal, and their maternal uncle Ashok Kumar Mittal created and operated a network of interconnected firms in India and Singapore to perpetrate fraudulent transactions.
In furtherance of the conspiracy, forged and fabricated documents, including Bills of Lading, Bills of Entry, contracts, and other trade-related documents, were prepared and submitted to banks for opening Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) and for obtaining fraudulent enhancement thereof.
“Investigation has conclusively established that the Bills of Lading, Bills of Entry, and other supporting documents submitted by this nexus before the banks were forged and fictitious in nature. The same further substantiates that no actual import of goods, namely timber, had taken place in the instant matter, thereby confirming the fraudulent nature of the transactions,” the ED submitted earlier before a Panchkula court during remand proceedings of Deepak Singla.
Deepak Singla is the Goa in-charge of the AAP. The CBI had filed a case against Ashok Mittal for duping the Oriental Bank of Commerce branch in Karnal. The total amount of Foreign Letters of Credit originally opened for M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd was Rs. 21.48 crore, whereas the fraudulently enhanced amount was Rs. 173.04 crore. In his statement, Surender Kumar Ranga, Senior Manager (terminated), OBC branch, told the ED in May 2022 that he had verbally requested him to increase the value of the Letters of Credit to an unlimited amount.
Mittal had, in return, allegedly promised to settle Ranga in Singapore. The ED told the court that Deepak Singla was a Director of M/s Traffic Media India Pvt. Ltd, along with his brother, Harish Singla. M/s Traffic Media was involved in the purchase of timber from M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd. Simultaneously, Deepak Singla’s brother, Raman Singhal was a Director in M/s Amazon Export Pte Ltd (AEPL), which was supplying timber and associated goods to M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd.
The ED told the court that during the course of investigation, the books of accounts and ledger records of M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd were examined, which revealed that M/s Traffic Media purchased “Timber" and “Imported Timber" from it over a substantial period of time.
The ED added that the CBI investigations, along with the findings and report of the Director General of Systems and Data Management, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), had conclusively established that a majority of the Bills of Entry, Bills of Lading, and other import-related documents submitted by M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd were “fake, forged, and fabricated”.
“The investigation has further established that no genuine importation of timber had actually taken place in respect of several transactions claimed by M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd. In view of these findings, it is evident that M/s Mahesh Timber Pvt Ltd could not have been in possession of the so-called “Imported Timber" allegedly sold to M/s Traffic Media India Pvt Ltd,” said the ED.
