ED Attaches ₹132.85 Crore Properties In ₹1,438 Crore Ushdev Bank Fraud Case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth ₹132.85 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in connection with an alleged large-scale bank fraud involving Ushdev International Limited. The attached assets comprise plots of land and office units located across Mumbai and Raigad districts in Maharashtra.

The money laundering probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a complaint by State Bank of India, representing an SBI-led banking consortium. The complaint alleged a bank fraud of approximately ₹1,438 crore.

According to the ED, the accused entities fraudulently availed Cash Credit facilities, Letters of Credit (LCs) and Buyers’ Credit by submitting forged and fabricated trade documents without any genuine underlying commercial transactions. The consortium banks were induced to release funds on the strength of these documents. The investigation revealed that LC proceeds were routed to shell and controlled supplier entities acting merely as conduits, before being layered through multiple intermediary firms and cycled back into Ushdev group companies through circular transactions lacking any business justification.

The ED further found that substantial portions of Cash Credit funds were diverted to related and largely dormant entities under the guise of advances. These funds were ultimately routed to companies within the Uttam Galva Group, pointing to systematic diversion and layering of the alleged proceeds of crime. In addition, fraudulently obtained LC proceeds were allegedly used to repay Buyers’ Credit facilities that financed imports later re-exported to overseas related entities, with export proceeds either not repatriated to India or diverted abroad.

With the present attachment, the total value of assets provisionally attached in the case has reached ₹176.37 crore. Further investigation remains ongoing.