New Delhi, Nov 18 (Agency) Enforcement Directorate arrested Debabrata Haldar on Wednesday under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the case of Sudhangshu Kumar Halder and others, for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 173.50 crore to the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), ED said in a statement on Thursday. According to the ED, the loss happened due to wrongful invocation of bank guarantees and invocation of fake bank guarantees. A day before the arrest, ED had carried out a search operation at six different places in West Bengal. During the search, two vehicles, cash and jewellery were seized and an amount of Rs 3.95 crore, lying in the bank accounts of related fictitious MSME firms has been frozen under PMLA. ED initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of an FIR registered by the CID, West Bengal.
There is a total loss of Rs 173.50 crore to NSIC lent under Raw Material Assistance Scheme (RMA Scheme) through alleged conspiracy by submitting Bank Guarantees (BGs) of other unconnected entities and fake BGs, purported to be issued by various branches of the erstwhile United Bank of India in Kolkata which came to fore when these were enforced by NSIC. The funds of NSIC obtained under RMA scheme, were laundered and diverted through accounts of various fictitious supplier firms.RMA scheme was devised to provide credit facilities to various needy MSME firms, said ED statement. During investigation, it was revealed that Debabrata Haldar allegedly acted as a middleman and was the main beneficiary of the whole scam. He allegedly acquired various movable and immovable properties. During the PMLA investigation, Haldar had been non-cooperative, evasive and did not divulge any relevant information. Therefore, he was placed under arrest on Wednesday and the Special PMLA Court has remanded him for 10 days custody to ED, said ED statement.