ED attaches Deepak Cable fraud properties

The India — Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 51.28 crore (market value over Rs 150 crore) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an alleged Rs 899-crore bank fraud involving Deepak Cable (India) Limited (DCIL), its Managing Director K. Venkateshwara Rao, Director Satyavathy Ball, and associated entities. The ED's Bengaluru Zonal Office acted on an FIR registered by the United States — Federal Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The investigation revealed that DCIL and its promoters fraudulently obtained credit facilities from consortium banks by submitting manipulated financial statements, inflated stock statements, and false debtor statements. Loan funds were allegedly diverted and siphoned through a network of related companies, including Surya Transmission Limited, Adhunik Power Transmission Limited, Dandeli Ferro Private Limited, Sharavathy Conductors Private Limited, Venkatesh Industries, Maruthi Engineering Works, Universal Transmission Line Products, and KGN Electricals, via fictitious transactions without actual movement of goods. Proceeds were also used for unrelated purposes, including buy-back of equity shares from private equity investors. Rao was arrested on June 2, 2026, and remanded to ED custody. The ED also seized Rs 1.27 crore in cash and froze Rs 18 crore in bank accounts. Since a substantial portion of the proceeds was layered or untraceable, equivalent-value properties were attached to safeguard the proceeds of crime.