Ahmedabad: ED attaches land worth Rs 1,000 crore in US in loan fraud case

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad zonal unit of Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached 1,280 acres of land, worth Rs 1,000 crore, in California, USA, in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud. For the first time ED had taken such an action in USA, an official said.

"ED Indore attaches under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) 1280 acres of land in California, USA, of Zoom Developers Pvt Ltd and Vijay Chaudhary in bank fraud case," the central agency tweeted today.

Indore falls under the jurisdiction of ED, Ahmedabad, official said. ED officials said this was one of the biggest bank loan frauds in the country. After suspecting the role played by some of the banks in granting loans, the CBI had also initiated a separate probe, officials said.

Zoom Developers, promoted by Vijay Chaudhary, operates from Indore and Mumbai. Chaudhary, who is absconding, had taken loans of Rs 2,200 crore from various banks for realty projects in Europe. However, no project was ever undertaken and the money was allegedly siphoned off by Chaudhary.

Last month, one of the directors of the company, Sharad Kabra, was arrested by the Indore ED. An arrest warrant has been issued against Chaudhary.