Jewelry worth 2 crore, 50 bank accounts frozen, and a 177 crore bank scam… This is how the Enforcement Directorate caught the accused from a five-star hotel.

According to ED, the accused Amit Ashok had been staying at that five-star hotel for the past two months. During the search of the hotel premises, cash worth ₹9.5 lakh, gold worth ₹2.33 crore, diamond jewelry, two vehicles, and digital devices were seized.

Mumbai ED Action in 177 Crore Bank Fraud Case: The team from the regional office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai has arrested wanted accused Amit Ashok Thepade from a five-star hotel in connection with a fraud of ₹117.06 crore involving Canara Bank. This arrest has been made under the ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002.

ED officials stated that the wanted accused Amit Ashok Thepade had been evading arrest for a long time. Meanwhile, the ED team received confidential information. Based on this, on August 24, ED officials raided a prominent five-star hotel in South Mumbai and arrested the accused Amit Ashok from there.

ED officials found during the investigation that the accused had been staying at that five-star hotel for the past two months. During the search of the hotel premises, cash worth ₹9.5 lakh, gold worth ₹2.33 crore, gold and diamond jewelry, two vehicles, and digital devices were seized. Additionally, over 50 bank accounts linked to the accused were frozen, which are suspected to contain crucial evidence of financial transactions.

The PMLA special court has sent the accused to ED custody for five days. ED initiated the investigation based on two FIRs registered by the CBI and ACB, Pune against Galaxy Constructions and Contractors Private Limited (GCCPL) and Mitsum Enterprises Private Limited (MEPL). Both companies, owned and controlled by Amit Thepade, had obtained loan facilities from Canara Bank by mortgaging various real estate properties.

The investigation revealed that the accused conspired to defraud the bank by mortgaging properties that had already been sold or by mortgaging the same properties twice, which enabled them to obtain loans and later withdraw money from the bank for personal use.

Further investigation by ED has revealed that Amit Thepade played a significant role in creating a complex financial network to layer and integrate illicit money obtained from criminal activities.

His arrest followed extensive surveillance and forensic financial analysis, which uncovered numerous transactions aimed at concealing the true source of the criminal proceeds and presenting them as legitimate assets. Further investigation in this case is ongoing.