The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 10.80 crore related to Rs 202 crore fraud case involving government agencies through fake bank guarantees. The action was taken by ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA).
The case stems from Bhopal, where an investigation was initiated based on an FIR filed by the CBI and Rajasthan Police. The investigation revealed that Tirtha Gopicon Limited (TGL) and its promoters colluded to obtain advances totaling crores of rupees from the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam and Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited by forging bank guarantees.
Bank Guarantee (BG) is a promise given by a bank on behalf of its customer that if the customer fails to make payment or fulfill a contract, the bank will pay the beneficiary.
The ED investigation revealed that the accused created a spoof email domain, pnb-india.co, that appeared to be the official email address of Punjab National Bank. This fake email was used to send bank guarantee confirmations to government agencies, which then tricked them into releasing the payments.
The Bhopal CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch filed an FIR in this entire case. Subsequently, the CBI arrested several accused, including TGL MD Mahesh Kumbhani, and filed a charge sheet in the Indore Special Court on September 16, 2025. Other people included Mohammad Firoz Khan, Govind Chandra Hansda, Gaurav Dhakad, and Rahul Gupta.
Approximately 22.12 crore rupees was withdrawn from the company’s accounts and transferred to the accounts of the promoters and their family members. An attempt was then made to conceal the trail by layering the funds into various accounts and purchasing properties in Indore and Ahmedabad.
The ED has attached nine immovable properties in Indore and Ahmedabad in this case. These include flats and a commercial space. According to the agency, the investigation is ongoing to identify more properties and the accused.
More details will be released soon.
