Bhushan Steel Bank 'Fraud' Case: ED Arrests Five Persons

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested five persons in connection with an alleged Rs 56,000 crore bank loan fraud linked money laundering case against erstwhile Bhushan Steel Ltd, official sources said Friday.

Those taken into custody on Thursday are Pankaj Kumar Tiwari, the former vice president banking of the company, former VP accounts Pankaj Kumar Agarwal, ex-chief financial officer Nitin Johri, Ajay Mittal, the brother-in-law of former promoter Neeraj Singal, and Ajay Mittal's wife and sister of Neeraj Singal, Archana Mittal.

After completing the corporate insolvency resolution process, Bhushan Steel was taken over by Tata Steel Ltd in 2018.

According to the ED, Bhushan Steel Limited's former Managing Director Neeraj Singal and his associates formed several shell companies and the promoters and entities linked to BSL 'rotated funds from one company to another through a chain of multiple entities' as part of an alleged bank loan fraud.

The money laundering case stems from a charge sheet filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, an investigative agency under the ministry of corporate affairs.