At Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, the ED attaches an “Ambience Tower” worth Rs 252 crore.

NEW DELHI: In conjunction with a money laundering probe related to an alleged bank fraud case against the Ambience Group, the Enforcement Directorate announced on Friday that it had attached a multi-storeyed commercial complex in Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh neighbourhood, valued at more than Rs 252 crore.

The immovable property is known as Ambience Tower and is owned by Ambience Towers Pvt Ltd, a company of the Ambience Group founded by Raj Singh Gehlot, according to a statement from the agency.

The ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach the commercial structure, which is valued at a total of Rs 252.17 crore.

Aman Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., through its promoter director Gehlot, was granted a term loan facility worth Rs 810 crore by a group of banks led by J&K Bank to partially finance its hotel project in Shahdara, Delhi, according to a FIR and chargesheets filed by the Jammu and Kashmir anti-corruption bureau.

“Later, the loan balance became an NPA. Investigations discovered Gehlot had hidden loan funds through a labyrinth of accounts held by his relatives and businesses affiliated with the Ambience Group “ED said.

It was discovered that Gehlot “diverted” items to the other project sites of the Ambience Group in addition to the misappropriation of monies, it claimed.

In this instance, Gehlot was taken into custody by the ED in September 2021.

In the earlier chargesheets submitted by the ED, his wife Sheela Gehlot and other directors of the Ambience Group, including Amit Gehlot, Shamsher Singh, and Pawan Singh, were also listed as defendants.

Assets worth Rs 20.20 crore that belonged to Raj Singh Gehlot, his family, and the Ambience Group enterprises had already been attached by the agency.