ED Arrests Kolkata Businessman in ₹2,600-Crore Bank Fraud Case, Probe Deepens

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kolkata-based businessman Pratyush Kumar Sureka in connection with a ₹2,600-crore money laundering case linked to an alleged large-scale bank fraud involving a jewellery manufacturing firm. The arrest marks a significant escalation in the high-value financial crime investigation being pursued by the central agency.

Sureka, aged 40, was taken into custody earlier this month after being intercepted at Kolkata Airport on the basis of a Look-Out Circular (LOC). According to officials, he was attempting to travel to Thailand when immigration authorities stopped him on January 5, citing the active LOC issued against him due to concerns over his cooperation in the probe.

The ED’s investigation stems from a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Shree Ganesh Jewellery House (I) Limited and its promoters. The firm is accused of defrauding a consortium of 25 banks of approximately ₹2,672 crore by diverting sanctioned loan funds meant for its core jewellery business.

According to the ED, the diverted funds were routed into solar power ventures through Alex Astral Power Private Limited and related entities. The alleged diversion is said to have occurred during the 2011–12 period. Investigators noted that Sureka was appointed as the Joint Managing Director of Alex Astral Power on April 24, 2012, placing him in a key position during the time of the alleged financial misconduct.

The agency has claimed that a solar power plant valued at around ₹400 crore—comprising ₹120 crore in equity and ₹280 crore in bank financing backed by a corporate guarantee from Shree Ganesh Jewellery House—was fraudulently transferred using Alex Astral Power. The project was supported by a long-term power purchase agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, adding further complexity to the case.

Investigators allege that the transaction was structured as a related-party arrangement to conceal the true value of the asset and move it out of reach of creditor banks and financial institutions. The ED further claims that Sureka fabricated board resolutions, backdated agreements, misused digital signatures, and appointed dummy directors to obscure his control over the entities involved and create misleading records of transactions.

Additionally, the agency has alleged that funds from Alex Astral Power and other group companies were siphoned off through sham loans, bogus expenses, and circular transactions into entities controlled by Sureka and his family. These actions, according to officials, were aimed at projecting the proceeds of crime as legitimate funds.

The ED cited multiple grounds for the arrest, including repeated non-cooperation with the investigation, the risk of destruction of evidence, potential witness intimidation, flight risk, and continued dissipation of proceeds of crime. The case is being closely watched amid heightened scrutiny of financial crimes and enforcement actions, with further developments expected as the probe continues.