ED Attaches ₹10.63 Crore J&K Bank Assets in Kashmir PMEGP Loan Scam

SRINAGAR — The Enforcement Directorate slapped provisional attachment orders onto 11 immovable properties worth ₹10.63 crore across Srinagar and Bandipora, escalating a money laundering crackdown into widespread loan fraud at Jammu and Kashmir Bank. The seized assets—comprising prime land parcels and commercial structures—belong to a syndicate of intermediaries, suppliers, and a complicit bank insider who systematically drained credit meant for small enterprises.

Federal agents zeroed in on the racket after auditing the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, a flagship central scheme designed to finance micro-enterprises and generate rural jobs. The money never reached genuine entrepreneurs. Instead, rogue operators routed proceeds straight into brick, mortar, and family accounts.

The money laundering case stems from two First Information Reports lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation's Anti-Corruption Branch in Srinagar, reinforced by an additional FIR registered in June. Federal investigators discovered that the syndicate began floating bogus loan files in 2022. Syndicate members recruited dummy applicants, confiscated their identification records under duress, and pushed dozens of loan dossiers through pliant desk officers at J&K Bank's Sumbal and Gamud Gadkhud branches.

The Sumbal and Gadkhud Shell Trail

Cash did not trickle. It flooded out through forged billing. The agency's forensic review established that brokers fabricated invoices from non-existent firms to draw down subsidies and capital advances. Hilal Ahmad Wani and key associates acted as the primary coordinators, funnelling public money into shell entities before liquidating the balances for personal expenditures and residential construction.

Surveys launched under Section 16 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at the Sumbal and Gamud Gadkhud branches exposed systemic institutional collapse. Investigators discovered that 270 term loan accounts and 270 working capital files had turned into non-performing assets in rapid succession. The defaults left J&K Bank staring at a toxic debt pool of roughly ₹32 crore, while the ED pinned total proceeds of crime at ₹11.37 crore.

The provisional attachment order issued under Section 5 of the PMLA now heads to the Adjudicating Authority in New Delhi for statutory confirmation. Federal investigators continue to trace secondary fund trails across north Kashmir, with supplementary chargesheets against participating bank officials scheduled for filing before the Special PMLA Court in Srinagar.