ED Searches 10 Premises in Bilpower ₹160.55 Crore Loan Fraud Case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, has conducted searches at 10 locations in Mumbai and Vadodara in connection with a money-laundering investigation into an alleged ₹160.55 crore loan fraud involving M/s Bilpower Limited.
The searches were carried out on August 25, 2026, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The agency searched seven residential and business premises as well as three bank lockers.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Economic Offences-I, Delhi, following a complaint filed by the State Bank of India (SBI). The CBI subsequently filed a chargesheet dated September 30, 2024, against Bilpower Limited, its directors and associated companies.
According to the allegations, Bilpower Limited had obtained various loan facilities from SBI but later diverted the loan proceeds and allegedly manipulated its books of accounts, resulting in a loss of approximately ₹160.55 crore to the bank.
Bilpower Limited, which is involved in manufacturing transformer laminations and cores, was managed by Rajendra Kumar Chaudhary, Suresh Kumar Chaudhary and Naresh Kumar Chaudhary.
The company had maintained banking arrangements with SBI since 2005, including Cash Credit, Working Capital Term Loan, Funded Interest Term Loan and Corporate Loan facilities. It also had non-fund-based facilities such as Bank Guarantees, Letters of Credit and Foreign Currency Exposure.
The company’s loan account was classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) on April 18, 2012, with a principal outstanding amount of ₹160.55 crore.
During its investigation, the ED allegedly found that Bilpower Limited carried out transactions with certain shell and bogus firms that were purportedly used for diversion and round-tripping of bank funds.
The agency alleged that Letters of Credit were devolved in favour of these entities and that forged documents were submitted and used as genuine. The funds were subsequently diverted to various entities allegedly controlled by members of the Chaudhary family or their associates.
During the latest searches, the ED seized cash worth approximately ₹43.90 lakh and jewellery valued at around ₹12.20 crore.
The agency also froze two bank accounts containing approximately ₹27 lakh under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA. Three bank lockers were also frozen.
The searches further resulted in the identification and recovery of documents relating to various assets, including immovable properties, land and machinery. Other incriminating documents, books of accounts, ledgers and digital devices were also recovered and seized.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
