Indore, Oct 1 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) Indore Sub-Zonal Office on Thursday filed a charge sheet before the Special Court (PMLA), Indore, against 21 accused persons and entities in a bank fraud case involving M/s Ruchi Global Ltd (now known as M/s Agrotrade Enterprises Ltd), an agency statement said.
The court has issued notices to the accused for a pre-cognisance hearing.
The ED initiated the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Bhopal, against Ruchi Global Limited and its directors for wrongful loss to a consortium of banks.
According to the investigation, M/s Ruchi Global Ltd fraudulently availed non-fund-based credit facilities, primarily Letters of Credit (LCs), aggregating approximately Rs 66 crore from the consortium comprising Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Jammu & Kashmir Bank in favour of related associate concerns.
These LCs were opened under the guise of purchasing agro-commodities against fabricated documents, including forged bills of exchange and fake lorry receipts, it said.
Upon discounting these bills through negotiating banks, the proceeds were rapidly layered through a network of shell and layering entities and integrated back into the bank accounts of M/s Ruchi Global Limited within one to three days.
Due to non-payment by Ruchi Global Ltd on the due dates, all the LCs devolved upon the issuing banks, resulting in wrongful loss to the consortium banks.
Earlier, during the investigation, the ED conducted search operations under Section 17 of the PMLA on December 23, 2025, leading to the seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 23.50 lakh and the freezing of bank accounts.
Subsequently, a Provisional Attachment Order was issued on February 18, 2026, attaching immovable property valued at Rs 5.13 crore.
The ED stated that further investigation is in progress to unearth the complete money trail and the roles of all involved persons and entities. The filing of the prosecution complaint marks a significant step in the agency’s efforts to bring the alleged perpetrators of the bank fraud to justice under the provisions of the PMLA.
–IANS
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