ED attaches Rs 57.45 crore assets in Atlas Jewellery PMLA case

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Apr 11, 2022

On April 9, the Enforcement Directorate attached Rs 57.45 crore worth of assets in connection with an ongoing Prevention of Money Laundering probe into Atlas Jewellery Private Limited and its directors.

The ED attached gold, silver, and diamond jewellery as well as silver articles, amounts lying in bank accounts, bank's fixed deposits, and immovable properties to the PMLA probe, an official told Indo-Asian News Service. The Rs 242 crore fraud case has been brought against Atlas Jewellery as well as its directors M M Ramachandran and Indira Ramachandran and a number of others.  
 
The PMLA probe was initiated on the basis of a First Information Report which was registered against Atlas Jewellery and its directors by the Kerala Police. The directors allegedly knowingly cheated South Indian Bank, Round South Branch, Thrissur, Kerala out of funds on the pretext of taking a loan. 

“With an intention to cheat, they had planned and furnished forged documents with the bank and availed loan of Rs 242.40 crore for business purposes,” the ED official told Indo-Asian News Service.

“But they didn't repay the loan. It was used to create wealth in the forms of property and jewellery. The seized property is nothing but proceeds of crime.”