ED Conducts Major Raids on Concast Steel and Power Group, Seizes Assets Worth ₹4.5 Crore
The Kolkata Zonal Office of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) recently conducted extensive search operations at 13 locations related to the Concast Steel and Power Group. In these operations, the ED seized assets including gold and jewellery valued at ₹4.5 Crore, along with eight vehicles, among which were luxury cars.
These search and seizure actions were carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing investigation into a bank fraud case. According to a press statement released by the Enforcement Directorate, the Concast Group had availed credit facilities from a consortium that included 11 Public Sector Banks and five financial institutions, yielding a total default of ₹6210 Crore after the company was classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) on September 30, 2016. The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR filed by the CBI in Kolkata, which cited various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Sanjay Sureka and several others, following a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI), the lead bank in the consortium.
The Concast Group, promoted by Sanjay Sureka, operates out of Kolkata and has integrated facilities across West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. It specializes in the production of sponge iron, pig iron, mild steel, and rolled products such as TMT bars, angles, channels, and Ferro alloys. The ED’s investigation revealed that the borrower company, M/s Concast Steel and Power Limited, had been utilizing multiple Letter of Credit (LC) facilities from the consortium of banks, which were later devolved.
The ED’s findings indicate that a significant number of these Letters of Credit were opened in the names of related parties. Subsequently, the diverted funds were traced back to accounts belonging to group companies as well as personal accounts. The Enforcement Directorate’s statement further highlighted that the promoter had established a complex network of shell entities, allegedly created in the names of his employees, relatives, and associates, to divert and launder the loan funds obtained from the consortium of banks.
