ED freezes ₹112.9 cr of assets linked to Lee Electricals fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jaipur has taken an interim attachment order against assets worth about ₹112.9 crore that belong to M/S Lee Electricals Ltd, its chief promoter Bharat Raj Poonj and other related individuals. The move, made under the Prevention of Money‑Laundering Act, 2002, targets 22 movable and immovable assets.

The attached properties include land, industrial plots and residential units situated in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. A residential property in Houston, Texas, United States, has also been seized.

Bank balances, fixed deposits and mutual‑fund holdings of the accused have been frozen as well. ED officials say the assets were held in the promoter family’s name but were used to hide proceeds of crime by routing them through various shell companies and allied firms.

The action follows an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which alleged that the promoters colluded to cheat a consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India, by submitting falsified financial documents. The scam is estimated to have caused a loss of approximately ₹376 crore to SBI and IDBI Bank.

Investigators allege that the promoters manipulated the company’s balance sheet, inflating the value of assets, inventory and receivables to appear financially robust and to secure repeated credit facilities. Funds obtained from banks were later transferred to companies under the promoters’ control and subsequently moved to overseas subsidiaries.

The ED maintains that several overseas subsidiaries are wholly owned by Bharat Raj Poonj. Large volumes of money were transferred abroad, with little repatriation, prompting the attachment of the Texas house jointly owned by Bharat Raj Poonj and his wife Pooja Poonj, which is believed to have been purchased with illicit proceeds.

The agency further asserts that the laundered money was invested in the seized real‑estate assets, many of which were later sold. Proceeds from those sales were used for personal and business expenditures of the promoter family, including payments to Bharat Raj Poonj’s mother, Renu Poonj.