ED Attaches Rs557.49 Crore Assets in Amtek Auto Bank Fraud Case
Moneylife Digital Team 27 March 2025
The Gurugram zonal office of the directorate of enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached assets worth Rs557.49 crore in connection with the Amtek Auto group’s Rs27,000 crore bank fraud case. The latest action follows an earlier attachment of Rs5,115.31 crore, confirmed by the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) adjudicating authority.
 
The investigation stems from a directive issued by the Supreme Court on 27 February 2024 which instructed the ED to probe the Amtek Auto group’s financial mismanagement, even though certain banks had settled their accounts. The case involves multiple companies under the Amtek group, including Amtek Auto Ltd, ARG Ltd, ACIL Ltd, Metalyst Forging Ltd and Castex Technologies Ltd, along with their promoter, Arvind Dham.
 
The attached assets include 145 acres of land in Rajasthan and Punjab, as well as properties in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) valued at Rs342 crore, bank deposits and fixed deposits (FDs) worth Rs112.5 crore and shares, mutual funds and investments in alternative investment funds (AIFs) valued at Rs123.9 crore.
 
ED has identified these assets as direct proceeds of crime, held through various companies controlled by Mr Dham and the Amtek group. Some of these assets were linked to stock market operators involved in securities fraud and real estate verticals connected to the Amtek group.
 
ED probe revealed that Amtek Auto group fraudulently obtained bank loans by manipulating financial statements and creating bogus assets and investments. Several group companies were taken through insolvency proceedings, leading to an 80% haircut for banks, inflicting significant financial losses on public sector lenders.
 
Earlier, the central bureau of investigation (CBI) had registered first information reports (FIRs) against the Amtek group based on complaints from IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra, citing illegal loan diversions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
 
ED has already conducted searches at over 40 locations and arrested Mr Dham. A prosecution complaint was filed against him on 6 September 2024. With fresh attachments and continued scrutiny, ED says it remains focused on uncovering the full extent of financial mismanagement within the Amtek Auto group.
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