Chowgule Group: ED Searches 3 Companies, 7 Residential Premises of Family Members, CA and Ex-MD
Moneylife Digital Team 05 July 2024
The directorate of enforcement (ED)'s Goa office has conducted search operations on three companies of the Chowgule group and seven residential premises of Chowgule family members, and the group chartered accountant (CA) and former managing director and chief financial officer (CFO) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
 
In a post on X, ED says it conducted search operations at various locations in Goa and Mumbai at the premises of Chowgule & Company Pvt Ltd (CCPL), Chowgule Steamship Ltd (CSL) and PP Mahatme & Company. The seven residential premises searched by ED included those from the Chowgule family members, including their group chartered accountant (CA) Pradip Mahatme, ex-MD and CFO Mangesh Sawant. During the search operations, various incriminating documents and digital devices were recovered and seized, it added.
 
 
In a statement, ED says it initiated an investigation based on credible information, which revealed that these entities had created various offshore structures in which approximately US$228mn (million) were diverted from Indian companies over the years by routing it through multiple foreign subsidiaries and step down subsidiaries based in Guernsey, UK and Marshall Islands.

Last month, Moneylife reported that Chowgule Steamships Ltd (CSL), the flagship company of the Chowgule family, has been reporting a Guernsey-registered Quail Investments Ltd as its promoter group entity with about a 6.23% stake in the company. The problem is Quail Investments was incorporated in 1973 and dissolved in 1974 and has not filed any annual returns since then, according to information provided to an investor by the registry office in Guernsey! Moreover, there is absolutely no information available about the promoters of Quail Investments beyond post box no86 at Julian's Court, Guernsey. 
 
The matter gets interesting for several reasons. First, this mystery company from Guernsey, Quail Investments, has provided a loan of Rs823.25 lakh to Chowgule Steamship Overseas Ltd (CSOL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSL, repayable on demand at an interest of 3%pa (per annum) in FY20-21. How would a company that does not exist be in a position to provide a loan? (Read: Chowgule Steamships: The Mystery of Promoter Quail Investments from Guernsey)
Comments
iaminprabhu
10 months ago
QUAIL is an OPEN PROOF of Financial fraud & these Financial FRAUDSTERS must be immediately arrested without any delay!

Why give these fraudsters more TIME & Place to escape & manipulate the system any further ??
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