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ED Attaches Rs 10.63 Crore Properties in Kashmir Loan FraudKashmir
Investigators say loans under a central employment-generation scheme were obtained through dummy borrowers and fake invoices, with bank officials allegedly involved. The case has now led to the attachment of properties in two districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached 11 immovable properties worth Rs 10.63 crore in Srinagar and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the agency said on Monday.
The action was taken by the ED’s Srinagar Zonal Office under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the alleged misuse of loans sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a central government scheme aimed at generating self-employment. According to a statement issued to the news agency Kashmir News Observer, the provisional attachment order covers land and buildings allegedly held or controlled by suppliers-cum-brokers, bank officials of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and other persons suspected of involvement in the case.
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The investigation was initiated on the basis of two first information reports (FIRs) registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Srinagar. The agencies alleged misappropriation of PMEGP loan amounts through a criminal conspiracy involving borrowers, bank officials of J&K Bank’s Sumbal and Gamud Gadhkhud branches, and other unidentified persons, who allegedly cheated the bank and misappropriated its funds. A fresh FIR was also registered in the matter by the CBI and ACB in June 2026.
How the alleged fraud worked
According to the ED, the investigation found that PMEGP loans were obtained by projecting dummy borrowers and using fake invoices issued in the names of firms and companies that did not exist. The agency said the loans were secured in criminal conspiracy with bank officials and private persons acting as suppliers-cum-brokers. Borrowers were allegedly induced to take loans using their identity documents, while fake invoices were arranged in the names of suppliers or their family members.
A survey conducted by the ED at the Sumbal and Gamud Gadhkhud branches of J&K Bank under the PMLA found 270 term loan accounts and an equal number of working capital accounts linked to the PMEGP scheme. The agency said the non-performing assets in these accounts amounted to Rs 32 crore.
The ED said its investigation has traced alleged proceeds of crime worth Rs 11.37 crore so far. According to the agency, the money was diverted through multiple bank accounts and used for the construction and renovation of assets, including some held in the names of family members of the accused, as well as for personal enrichment. A substantial portion of the proceeds was also allegedly siphoned off, the agency said.
The agency said Hilal Ahmad Wani and others played a major role in allegedly obtaining PMEGP loans fraudulently. The 11 assets, held under the control of suppliers-cum-brokers, bankers and one bank officer, have been provisionally attached under Section 5(1) of the PMLA to safeguard the value of the suspected proceeds of crime, the ED said. Further investigation in the case is under way.
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