Accused in ₹8,100-crore Sterling Biotech fraud arrested in Albania

Is Brother-In-Law Of Main Accused Chetan Sandesara


New Delhi:

Hitesh Patel, brotherin-law of Chetan Sandesara who is the main accused in the Rs 8,100-crore Sterling Biotech fraud, has been arrested in Albania on the basis of an Interpol red corner notice issued on March 11 at the request of the ED.


The agency, which is probing the money laundering case against the Sandesaras and others, said it would soon approach the local court to seek his extradition.

Patel was arrested in Tirana on March 20. He is wanted for his involvement with dozens of shell companies used by the Sandesaras to launder bank loans. The ED had on March 19 issued an extradition request to Albania against Chetan Sandesara and his brother Nitin Sandesara, the two Sterling Biotech directors.

The Sandesara brothers, who fled the country soon after cases were registered against them by the CBI and the ED in 2017, are wanted for bank loan frauds of more than Rs 8,100 crore. A case has been filed against them under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act to confiscate their properties. The ED has attached Rs 4,700 crore of their personal assets and those of associated group companies.

The Sandesara brothers too are believed to have taken citizenship of Albania to evade arrest by Indian agencies. Earlier, the ED had arrested four persons for money laundering, including Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, known to be close to a senior Congress leader. His dealings in purchase of properties were under the agency’s scanner.

The ED has also arrested Anup Garg, former director of Andhra Bank; R B Dixit, director of Sterling Biotech Ltd; and Ranjeet Malik, an associate of Gagan Dhawan. It has filed five chargesheets in the case so far.

Investigation showed that the Sterling promoters had allegedly incorporated more than 250 shell companies and laundered money through them to foreign entities. More than 100 shell companies were created in various countries, including the UAE, the US, the UK, British Vigin Islands, Mauritius, Barbados and Nigeria to launder money borrowed from banks.

“The Sandesaras are engaged in the oil business and have numerous assets in Nigeria, including oil blocks (Durga 1-4), barges and ships. Some of their vessels are also registered in Panama,” the ED had earlier claimed in its chargesheet. Besides, they have immovable property in British Virgin Islands, which the agency has sought to confiscate while investigation is on to identify more foreign assets.

Trio nabbed for break-ins after search of 9 Goregaon buildings

Mumbai:

Goregaon police arrested three members of an inter-state house breakin gang from Delhi who were here to execute offences. They were caught after they broke into a locked flat in one of nine buildings at Gajanan Colony on Road 8, Goregaon (W), early on Friday.


Akash Mathur, Anil Chavan and Pravin Sundarsingh were caught after police searched for them in all buildings and finally found them in a cavity below a water tank on a terrace. Police recovered stolen gold ornaments worth Rs 4.5 lakh from them and are searching for two more members who escaped.

The trio was caught after police searched at least nine four- and six-storeyed buildings. They were produced in court on Friday and remanded to police custody.

The drama lasted for almost an hour when a resident told police about five strangers loitering about suspiciously at 1am. DCP (zone XI) Sangramsinh Nishandar supervised a team of ACP Rajaram Mandge, Goregaon senior inspector Sanjeev Bhole, inspector Arvind Pawar, sub-inspectors Pachgane and Gachhe and detection staff, who cordoned off the area after parking five patrol vehicles at five exit points. “This forced three members to run upstairs and hide in a cavity below the water tank,” said a police officer.

The gang struck at a flat on the third floor of a building after its owner, along with his family, had left for the airport past midnight to take a flight to Bengaluru. The witness was in his flat when he noticed them and called Goregaon police’s emergency number. “The valuables were recovered from the trio, who took the team to the flat where they struck. Relatives reached the spot after neighbours telephoned the flat-owner about the break-in,” a resident of Gajanan Colony told TOI.

Police are verifying details of the gang and have got information that they are wanted in several break-ins in Delhi and Mumbai in the last few years. “We are collecting information on how frequently and how they used to travel to Mumbai to commit the crimes. After reaching Mumbai, they used to stay in a lodge in Dongri,” police said.

4 convicted of ₹35L share theft & transfer

Four accused have been convicted in a 20-year-old scam in which a postman, in collusion with a businessman and others, stole shares worth Rs 35 lakh in 1999. The 4,500 shares of Global TeleSystems Ltd were to be delivered by the post office to the company’s Navi Mumbai office. However, the postman facilitated their theft and handover to a businessman who, using forged deeds, transferred it on his name and later sold them.


Three persons, Santosh Jain, Jitendra Doshi and Sushil Vettath were sentenced to five years. A woman accused, Sheela Suryavanshi (59) who helped open a bogus demataccount and prepare bogus share transfer deeds was sentenced to two years. She was granted bail. The postman, DR Kamble, and another accused, Kundan Dandvate, died during pendency of the case. TNN