The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Vinay Shankar Tiwari, a senior leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and son of the late strongman politician Hari Shankar Tiwari, in connection with a massive ₹750 crore bank fraud case. He was taken into custody from Lucknow after multiple raids were conducted by ED teams at various properties linked to him and his company, Gangotri Enterprises Ltd.
The arrest is part of a larger investigation into financial irregularities by Gangotri Enterprises, a company promoted by Vinay Shankar Tiwari along with his family members. According to ED sources, Gangotri Enterprises had taken loans amounting to ₹1,129.44 crore from a consortium of seven banks, led by the Bank of India. However, around ₹750 crore out of this total amount was not repaid.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that the company diverted and misused the loan amount, violating banking norms and causing a huge loss to the banks. The money was allegedly siphoned off for personal and unauthorized purposes, leading to a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On the day of the arrest, ED teams carried out searches at 10 different locations across India that were linked to Tiwari and his company. These included five places in Lucknow, two each in Noida and Gorakhpur, and one each in Delhi and Mumbai.
The action was launched early in the morning and involved more than a dozen teams. During the raids, several important documents were recovered, including papers related to properties worth crores of rupees. ED officials claim that within just a few hours of the search operation, they found significant proof of financial wrongdoing.
Despite receiving several summons from the Enforcement Directorate, Vinay Shankar Tiwari reportedly failed to appear before investigators. This non-cooperation further raised suspicion and led to intensified action. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already registered a case against Gangotri Enterprises and its promoters based on complaints from the banks involved. The ED took over the case under money laundering charges after the CBI’s FIR. So far, the ED has seized property worth about ₹100 crore in connection with this fraud.
Vinay Shankar Tiwari is a well-known figure in Uttar Pradesh politics. He earlier represented the Chillupar constituency in Gorakhpur, a seat previously held by his father. He was elected as an MLA on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket before switching to the Samajwadi Party. However, he lost the 2022 Assembly election. With his political and business background now under scrutiny, the ED is preparing to file a formal chargesheet against him, according to reports.
This arrest has sent shockwaves across political circles, and the investigation is expected to widen further as the ED continues to examine financial transactions and assets related to Gangotri Enterprises.
