Another Scam of Rs 2112 crores?

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are hot on the trail of Pramod Kumar Mittal. The investigating agencies alleged that Mittal defrauded Indiangovernment-owned State Trading Corporation of India Limited (STC) to the tune of Rs 2,112 crore. The ED officials said that while tracking whereabouts of Nirav Modi, they have zeroed in on Mittal’s London address and they will soon expedite the case to bring him back to India.

“So far, we had issued three summons to Pramod Mittal after CBI had registered a case against him and other officers of STC. We had attached his assets worth around Rs 244 crore last years (sic). Although a look out circular has been issued against him, we will coordinate with the CBI for issuance of Red Corner Notice against Mittal,” an ED official told media in India.

The CBI had registered a case against Mittal and 19 officers of STC for criminal conspiracy and cheating in March 2017. Subsequently, ED had registered a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Both the agencies had issued summons to Mittal, younger brother of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, but he has not appeared before the sleuths for examination. There were reports in 2013 that Pramod Mittal spent a whopping Rs 500 crore on his daughter’s wedding in Barcelona.
The CBI has alleged that Mittal’s company Global Infrastructure Holdings Limited (GIHL), registered in Isle of Man, now also known as Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL), approached STC and sought assistance in terms of providing financing facility by establishing Letters of Credit for purchasing raw materials required for their newly acquired steel plants in Philippines and Bosnia.