ED Attaches Rs 150 Crore Property Near Buckingham Palace In S Kumars Bank Fraud Case

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached an immovable property valued at Rs 150 crore near Buckingham Palace in London as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged bank loan fraud by textile firm S Kumars Nationwide Ltd and its former chairman and managing director Nitin Kasliwal, according to PTI.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the federal probe agency said the attachment was ordered on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The property, described by the ED as a “high-value” asset, is held under the “beneficial ownership” of Nitin Shambhukumar Kasliwal and his family members, PTI reported.

The agency has alleged that Kasliwal defrauded a consortium of Indian banks of around Rs 1,400 crore. According to PTI, the case relates to the alleged diversion of bank funds through S Kumars Nationwide Ltd, with the money purportedly siphoned off overseas in the name of foreign investments.

The ED said that once assets located abroad are attached, it approaches counterpart agencies in the concerned country to secure possession of such properties under the criminal provisions of the anti-money laundering law, PTI reported.

According to the agency, Kasliwal and others cheated the lending banks and “diverted” funds outside India, later using them to acquire immovable assets abroad. These assets, the ED alleged, were “concealed” through a layered structure involving private trusts and companies registered in multiple foreign jurisdictions.

The probe agency also said it conducted searches in the case on December 23, during which documents and electronic devices were seized. “A detailed analysis of the said material revealed that Nitin Kasliwal established a complex network of trusts and companies in multiple offshore tax havens, including the British Virgin Islands, Jersey, and Switzerland,” the ED said, according to PTI.

The investigation further found that Kasliwal set up the Catherine Trust, formerly known as the Surya Trust, in which he and his family members were the primary beneficiaries. “The investigation found that Nitin Kasliwal set up the Catherine Trust (formerly Surya Trust) in which he and his family members were the primary beneficiaries,” the agency said.

This trust, the ED added, “controlled” a company registered in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands—Catherine Property Holding Limited (CPHL)—which ultimately held ownership of the London property that has now been attached under the PMLA.

(With inputs from PTI)