ED attaches Rs 224 crore properties of Siva group

Chennai, Feb 1 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said here on Friday that it has provisionally attached the immovable and movable properties worth Rs 224.6 crore pertaining to the Siva Group and Axcel Sunshine Ltd of BV Islands in a bank fraud case.The attachment of assets has been done under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said.According to the ED, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a first information report (FIR) against Axcel Sunshine Limited, C.Sivasankaran, Siva Industries and Holdings Ltd, Siva Group of companies, bank officials and others for non-payment of loans of $67 million given by IDBI Bank.Investigations by ED under PMLA revealed that the Siva Group negotiated, applied and obtained the loan in the name of front company Axcel Sunshine to adjust against their earlier and other loans.According to the ED, the immovable properties attached include vacant land, office premises here and movable properties including mutual fund investments and balance amounts available in their bank accounts.
--IANS vj/rs/bg