Bank ex-CMD Subodh Kumar Goel bought property via bribe money: ED

NEW DELHI: ED has identified properties worth Rs 75 crore associated with jailed former CMD of UCO Bank Subodh Kumar Goel which were allegedly acquired through bribes received for sanctioning loans worth thousands of crores to Concast Steel & Power Ltd (CSPL), which later defaulted on repayments.Sources said Goel, who was arrested by ED from his New Delhi residence on May 16, had acquired properties in Delhi-NCR, which included a bungalow in upscale Panchsheel Park in Delhi, a villa in Jaypee Greens in Noida, several flats and plots in Noida and Greater Noida, besides warehouses and commercial properties. All the assets in question were purchased using shell companies, many of which were controlled by his son, daughter-in-law and wife.CSPL and its promoter Sanjay Sureka have defaulted on loans of over Rs 6,200 crore, taken from a consortium of 27 banks. The loss to UCO Bank alone has been estimated at over Rs 1,400 crore, sources said.Goel’s residence in Panchsheel Park was owned by a shell entity in which Sureka and his wife Sapna held 50% share each. “Shareholding of this company was later transferred to Goel’s wife, son and daughter-in-law,” a senior official aware of the investigation said.Similarly, the B-79 house in Noida’s posh Sector 44 was acquired in the name of another shell company, the shareholding of which was later transferred to Goel’s nominees, source said. Among his other properties are a villa in Jaypee Greens in Noida, again acquired in the name of a shell company, besides two commercial properties in Greater Noida and a flat in NRI City in Omaxe Connaught Plaza, Greater Noida. “The investigation has so far identified over Rs 75 crore worth of immovable properties linked to S K Goel,” a source said.ED’s case under PMLA, being investigated by the Kolkata zonal unit, is based on an FIR registered by CBI which alleged that CSPL siphoned off Rs 6,211 crore availed as loans from a consortium of 27 banks and other financial institutions. The agency has accused Goel, while serving as CMD of UCO Bank, of having played a key role in sanctioning loans to CSPL, which were later siphoned off and laundered. The loans turned into NPAs, causing a loss of more than Rs 1,462 crore to UCO Bank, besides others, sources said.