Kolkata, 11 December (H.S.) : The Enforcement Directorate has filed a prosecution complaint in a bank fraud case against a firm named P.K. Enterprises, its proprietor, and several others before the Special PMLA Court in Kolkata. The action has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

According to the ED’s statement issued on Thursday, the complaint has been filed against Prashant Das, proprietor of P.K. Enterprises and son of late Purnendu Das, along with Chandan Sarkar, Laltu Saha, and three other accused who have been identified as key conspirators in the alleged fraud.

The agency initiated its investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI’s Banking and Securities Fraud Cell. The probe revealed that late Purnendu Das had availed a packing credit of ₹8 crore and a foreign bill negotiation facility of ₹25 crore from the erstwhile Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank) through his proprietorship firm. The facilities were taken in the name of onion exports to Bangladesh, but the agency found that forged export bills were submitted, causing a loss of ₹26.72 crore to the bank.

The ED stated that the claims of ₹25 crore negotiated under Letters of Credit issued by various banks in Bangladesh were never honoured. When Allahabad Bank sought repayment, the Bangladeshi banks refused, stating that the exported consignments were never received.

The investigation further found that Purnendu Das diverted the loan amount to his son’s firm, P.K. Enterprise, and to his personal accounts. He allegedly issued 70 bearer cheques for cash withdrawals, including in the name of suppliers and himself, and routed the cash through his employees.

Earlier, the ED had provisionally attached five immovable properties worth ₹34.42 lakh in connection with the case.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh