7 hours Ago
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday evening arrested former MLA and Samajwadi Party leader Vinay Shankar Tiwari from his New Hyderabad residence in Lucknow in a case related to an alleged bank loan fraud for causing “a wrongful loss” to the tune of ₹ 754.24 crore and money laundering following raids on multiple locations in the state capital, Gorakhpur and Noida earlier in the day. The ED also arrested his relative Ajit Pandey from his native village in Maharajganj district in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Pandey used to allegedly manage the business of Tiwari’s company from the Noida office. Tiwari is the son of former Uttar Pradesh minister and Gorakhpur strongman the late Harishankar Tiwari. The ED produced Vinay Shankar Tewari in the court of special judge Rahul Prakash who sent him to judicial custody for 14 days and fixed April 19 for the next hearing.
Pandey was being brought to Lucknow from Maharajganj and was likely to be produced before a judge late at night. According to the ED, the loan was availed of from a consortium of seven banks led by the Bank of India. Tiwari’s firm, M/S Gangotri Enterprises Ltd, is facing charges of siphoning off the loan to other projects and not repaying the amount.
Tiwari is also facing charges under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED had alleged in a statement that the Gangotri Enterprises Ltd, “in collusion” with its promoters, directors and guarantors “fraudulently”, availed credit facilities to the tune of ₹ 1,129.44 crore from a consortium of seven banks led by the BoI.
The credit facilities were not repaid and were “grossly diverted and misappropriated” by Gangotri Enterprises Ltd and its promoters, directors and guarantors in violation of banking norms, causing wrongful loss to the tune of ₹ 754.24 crore to the consortium of banks, the agency said. Vinay Shankar Tiwari was elected the BSP MLA from Chillupar in Gorakhpur district in 2017.
He joined the Samajwadi Party before the 2022 assembly polls but lost the election. On Monday morning, the ED carried out raids at Tiwari’s New Hyderabad residence and the Mahanagar office in Lucknow. Simultaneous raids were carried out on his Gorakhpur and Noida offices.
The ED officials scanned documents related to the Gangotri Enterprises Ltd and bank loans availed by the company. According to the ED, the raids are part of an investigation into a bank loan fraud and money laundering case involving a consortium of seven banks. Earlier, the ED had carried out raids on Tiwari’s establishments on February 23, 2024, in connection with a money laundering case.
These included one location in Gorakhpur and five in Lucknow, two locations in Noida in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Gurugram, Haryana, and Ahmedabad, Gujarat. On November 17, 2023, the ED had attached 27 immovable properties worth ₹ 72.08 crore in Lucknow, Maharajganj and Gorakhpur districts belonging to Tiwari and his family members, who were promoters, directors and guarantors of M/S Gangotri Enterprises Ltd.
The step was taken under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. According to the ED, funds were allegedly diverted to associate companies for purchasing private properties and in other projects for which loan was not sanctioned. A case was registered by the ED based on the CBI’s FIR filed after complaints from the banks.
The ED had attached properties worth ₹ 103 crore during raids in February 2024. In March 2024, it further seized assets worth ₹ 30.86 crore, including commercial, residential, and agricultural lands, in Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Noida.
These properties were registered in the names of Tiwari and firms, including Royal Empire Marketing Pvt Ltd and Kandarp Construction Pvt Ltd. ..
