Sri Vijaya Puram, November 12: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached another ₹121.35 crore worth of properties and financial assets in the alleged ₹500-crore Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCBL) fraud, taking the total value of attached assets in the case to approximately ₹326.91 crore. The latest action covers 35 immovable and five movable properties, including Joye Grand Hotel, two semi-submarine tourist vessels and land allegedly acquired using diverted bank loans linked to former MP and former bank Vice-Chairman Kuldeep Rai Sharma.
The ED’s Kolkata Zonal Office-II issued the Provisional Attachment Order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on November 5, 2026. The attached assets also include bank balances held in three accounts.
The agency initiated its investigation following an FIR registered by the Crime and Economic Offences Police Station of the Andaman and Nicobar Police against Sharma and others. According to the ED, Sharma, along with bank officials and associates, allegedly secured substantial loans through shell companies by bypassing banking regulations and subsequently diverted the funds without repayment.
The investigation identified 23 shell companies allegedly established without genuine business operations and operated through associates and dummy directors. Of these, 21 companies received loans worth approximately ₹301.50 crore, while loans amounting to around ₹271 crore across 18 companies subsequently became non-performing assets (NPAs).
The ED alleged that borrowers withdrew the loan proceeds in cash or routed them through multiple accounts before investing the money in properties and other assets registered in the names of family members and associates. Several other companies, including businesses linked to Sharma’s family, also allegedly obtained loans that were subsequently diverted and left unpaid.
The agency has identified proceeds of crime exceeding ₹500 crore. Its investigation further alleges that senior bank officials, including Sharma and the then Managing Director K. Murugan, who is now deceased, received commissions of approximately five per cent of sanctioned loan amounts. In several instances, borrowers allegedly secured loans beyond the required amounts and diverted portions through cash withdrawals or shell companies.
Property transactions and inflated valuations also form a major part of the investigation. The ED found that several assets were either purchased using diverted loan proceeds or offered as collateral at substantially inflated valuations. In some cases, land purchased for approximately ₹1 crore was allegedly valued at ₹10 crore or more in loan documents, with assistance from a bank-empanelled property valuer.
Of the 35 immovable properties attached in the latest order, 15 were acquired through powers of attorney or sale agreements in the names of borrowers, accused persons and dummy directors. These properties were subsequently mortgaged with ANSCBL to obtain loans far exceeding their actual market values.
The latest attachment also covers Joye Grand Hotel and two semi-submarine tourist vessels imported from Croatia for approximately ₹2.11 crore. Although registered in the name of M/s Andaman Escapades Pvt. Ltd., the ED alleges that the assets were actually acquired for Sharma using funds from a fraudulent loan sanctioned to shell company M/s Heyday Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd.
Earlier, the agency arrested Sharma, Murugan, loan officer K. Kalaivanan and hotelier Sanjay Lal and filed a prosecution complaint against 39 individuals and entities before the Special Court under PMLA in Port Blair on November 14, 2025.
The ED had previously attached 51 properties worth ₹205.56 crore, an order subsequently confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority on August 4, 2026. With the latest attachment, the cumulative value has reached approximately ₹326.91 crore. Further investigation remains underway.
