The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken into custody Kolkata-based businessman Pratyush Kumar Sureka (40) in connection with a large-scale money laundering investigation involving an alleged bank fraud exceeding Rs 2,600 crore.
The ED’s action stems from a case originally registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Shree Ganesh Jewellery House (I) Limited (SGJHIL) and its promoters, who are accused of cheating a consortium of 25 banks of approximately Rs 2,672 crore.
According to investigators, loan amounts sanctioned for SGJHIL’s jewellery operations were allegedly diverted to solar energy ventures through Alex Astral Power Private Limited and associated entities. The agency claims the diversion occurred during 2011–12, when Sureka was later appointed Joint Managing Director of Alex Astral Power on April 24, 2012.
“A solar power plant valued at around Rs. 400 Crore (comprising Rs. 120 Crore in equity and Rs. 280 Crore in bank financing secured by a corporate guarantee from SGJHIL), which was supported by a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd., was fraudulently transferred using M/s Alex Astral Power Pvt. Ltd,” the ED said in a statement.
The agency further alleged that the transaction was designed to obscure asset ownership, harming lenders. Sureka is accused of fabricating documents, misusing digital signatures, and installing dummy directors to conceal control.
“Further, funds of Alex Astral Power Pvt. Ltd. and other group companies were siphoned through sham loans, bogus expenses and circular transactions into entities controlled by Pratyush Kumar Sureka and his family, thereby projecting tainted proceeds as untainted,” the statement added.
Officials said Sureka repeatedly avoided summons and attempted to leave India. He was stopped at Kolkata airport on January 5 while trying to travel to Thailand under a Look-Out Circular. His arrest was justified citing “non-cooperation, risk of destruction of evidence, witness intimidation, flight risk, and continued dissipation of proceeds of crime.”
