Court grants bail to man accused in Rs 328 crore overseas transfer using bank account linked with shell companies

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Aparna Swami granted bail to Rupesh Batra after custody of more than a year.

While granting bail the court noted that the accused Rupesh Batra had been in custody since 17.08.2023.

"The present case is at the stage of providing deficient copies to the accused. To date, even the trial has not commenced. It is relevant to mention here, that the delay in commencement of the trial is not attributable to the conduct of the applicant/accused. There are 80 witnesses and 30,000 pages of documents. There is not even a remote possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future," the court said in the order passed on October 19.

Rupesh Batra has been granted bail subject to conditions including furnishing a bail bond in the sum of Rs10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount, to the satisfaction of the court.

The court said that the argument of learned Special public prosecutors (SPPs) for the ED pertaining to the fact that the applicant had direct involvement in the commission of offence under the realm of the PMLA and in this regard, the statements recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA affirm the involvement of the applicant, needs to be tested at the stage of the trial.

The court rejected The submissions made by SPPs for the ED regarding the possibility of tampering with the evidence by the applicant, and it noted, "The present case largely depends upon documentary evidence, which is already seized by the prosecution. As such, there is no possibility of tampering with the evidence. Insofar as the concern with respect to the possibility of the accused influencing the witnesses, the same can be checked by imposing stringentcondition upon the applicant."

This case is based on an FIR of 01.10.2021 registered by the Special Cell, Delhi Policefor offences punishable under Sections 420, 471 read with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Thereafter, an ECIR was recorded.

As per ED, during the PMLA investigation, it was revealed that the accused persons were involved in a massive international racket, whereby foreign exchange was being transferred outside the country in a disguised manner through fraudulent means, posing a threat to the economic security and financial system of the country, and causing wrongful loss to various government departments while providing wrongful gains to the accused.

It was also revealed during the investigation by ED that fake and forged IDs including PAN cards, Aadhar cards, and Voter ID cards, were used for creating and opening shell companies and multiple bank accounts.

It was further found that the shell companies were used for sending funds abroad against forged import documents.

Meanwhile, a savings bank account opened with Yes Bank in the name of Ashish Verma was used for executing outward remittances under the guise of investment in a foreign country through the Liberalized Remittances Scheme.

In the course of the investigation, the search and seizure of the premises of Deepak Kaushik (the brother-in-law of accused Ashish Verma) were conducted, which allegedly resulted in the recovery of digital devices and incriminating documents, including 49 chequebooks, 33 PAN cards, 13 Aadhar cards, 80 stamps and 29 bank cards from different entities in foreign countries used to receive funds from India.

It was also revealed that the passport and personal details of Indian Nationals, who had received them. A significant sum of money was used to incorporate offshore shell entities and open fictitious bank accounts in foreign banks.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) during the investigation, 20 shell entities were identified, along with 52 bank accounts that were used for the purpose of acquiring foreign exchange by using fake and forged documents to transfer funds abroad under the guise of payment for the import of services by Ashish Kumar Verma, Vipin Batra, and Rupesh Batra.

It is alleged that A Yes bank account in the name of Ashish Verma was used to acquire foreign exchange through false declaration as 'foreign portfolio investment' and to transfer funds abroad under the cover of investment.

In this manner, foreign exchange worth Rs.328,22,70,844 was acquired through these 53 accounts and subsequently transferred abroad.

It was also revealed during the investigation that accused Mohan Madaan and one Pawan Thakur strategically organized the establishment of entities as 'Special Purpose Vehicles' both within India and overseas, facilitating the opening of bank accounts for cross-border remittances.

For this purpose, accused Mohan Madaan also set up an entity in his name in Dubai namely M/s Diastone Trading FZE, and another entity, namely M/s Krishna Overseas, in India in the name of his nephew, Nikhil Madaan, the ED said.

An ED investigation revealed that accused Rupesh Batra was in conspiracy with other accused persons, and was carrying out the work of illegal outward remittances.

It is alleged that applicant Rupesh Batra. conspired with co-accused persons Vipin Batra and Ashish Kumar Verma to hide the materials used for the incorporation of entities, opening of bank accounts, controlling of banking transactions, preparation of forged documents, etc., which were seized from the premises of Deepak Kumar, during the searches conducted on08.10.2021, at various places.

It is also alleged that the accused Rupesh Batra had sent various persons to foreign countries for incorporation of companies and opening of their bank accounts abroad. The allegations against applicant Rupesh Batra involved arranging tickets through M/s Manoj Tour and Travels for these persons so as to facilitate their travel to foreign countries.

It is further alleged in the complaint of ED that the involvement in the illegal transfer of foreign exchange by the accused Rupesh Batra is proven by the fact that the applicant received multiple calls from one Naresh Arya, requesting a telegraphic transfer of Rs1 crore. (ANI)