Mumbai: ED Arrested MD Of M/s Topworth Steels And Power Private Limited Company In Embezzlement Of Rs 63 Crore

Mumbai, 1st September 2023: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Abhay Narendra Lodha, promoter and managing director of M/s Topworth Steels and Power Private Limited, on Wednesday. The ED took this action in the case of the misappropriation of an IDBI Bank loan of Rs 63 crore. After the arrest, Lodha was produced before a special court and was sent to ED custody until September 8. Sources said that the ED has conducted raids in 12 places across the country, including Mumbai and Pune in this case.

The Mumbai branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier registered a case of embezzlement against the directors and executive panel of M/s Topworth Steels and Power Private Limited. Taking note of this complaint, the ED has started an investigation in this case. According to the sources, the Ed had conducted searches at 12 places in Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Nagpur, and Durg related to Abhay Lodha and other suspects.

In this search operation, ED discovered the details of ownership of various immovable properties and companies abroad and in India (till now not declared). Additionally, more than seven lakh rupees worth of foreign currency belonging to different countries and various suspicious documents and articles have been seized. Sources said that details of fake companies controlled by Abhay Lodha were also seized by the ED in this search operation.

During the period 2014–15 to 2016–17, the IDBI Bank granted a monetary loan of Rs 63 crore and 10 lakh to the bank through the method of loan facility of a letter of credit or trade credit bank guarantee. The ED said that the Topworth group of companies controlled by Abhay Lodha conducted suspicious transactions of Rs 3,000 crore through the Topworth Group and its related entities. ED is investigating further in this regard.