ED attaches assets worth ₹1.79 crore in Bengaluru bank loan fraud case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth ₹1.79 crore belonging to businessman K.G. Bhadraradhya in a money laundering case linked to a bank loan fraud. The order was issued on August 25 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

According to the ED, the attached assets include two buildings located in Nagarabhavi, west Bengaluru. Bhadraradhya, along with Ashok Kumar, V. Vijayalakshmi, and Radha Agarwal, alias Anjana, is accused of defrauding several banks by securing vehicle loans on the basis of forged invoices purportedly issued by authorised car dealers of two well-known brands in Bengaluru.

The ED said the accused diverted the loan amounts, totalling ₹4.84 crore, into fictitious bank accounts and routed them through multiple accounts belonging to their business entities. The funds were allegedly siphoned off through a layering process and used for various purposes, including the purchase of land, machinery, repayment of older loans, and substantial cash withdrawals.

The ED said part of the fraudulent proceeds worth ₹43.06 lakh was used to buy 2 acres and 25 guntas of agricultural land in Antharasanhalli village, Tumakuru, registered in the name of Vijayalakshmi, Bhadraradhya’s wife. That property had already been attached earlier in 2016 under a separate provisional order, with possession taken after confirmation by the Adjudicating Authority.

With the latest action, the total value of assets attached by the ED in this case has reached ₹2.20 crore.