New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) A special court in Port Blair rejected the bail plea of four people, one of them former Andaman and Nicobar Islands MP and Congress leader Kuldeep Rai Sharma, arrested by the ED in a Rs 500 crore cooperative bank "fraud" linked money laundering case, the agency said on Monday.

On December 12, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court dismissed the plea of Sharma, an ex-Chairman of the Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank (ANSCBL), the bank's managing director, K Murugan, loan officer K Kalaivanan, and Sanjay Lal, an alleged associate of Sharma, it said in a statement.

Sharma represented the Union Territory in the Lok Sabha between 2019 and 2024.

"The court held that there are prima facie materials showing active involvement of all four accused persons in the money laundering activities arising from the A&N State Cooperative Bank fraud and related shell companies," the Enforcement Directorate said.

The court, it said, "relied upon" various statements recorded by the agency and observed that the shell (dummy) companies were created in "connivance" of the accused and that bank funds were "fraudulently" disbursed, routed and paid as a "bribe" to Sharma, following which immovable properties were acquired.

It said the court also observed that Sharma and Lal "destroyed" evidence, adding that the arrest of all four was justified.

The ED had chargesheeted a total of 39 people and entities, including these four, as part of this investigation in November.

The money laundering case stems from a Crime and Economic Offences Cell of the Andaman and Nicobar Police.

Loans were sanctioned through more than 100 loan accounts in the names of various firms and shell (dummy) companies, in "complete disregard" of the laid-down procedures and guidelines of the bank, the central probe agency said.

The amount involved in the fraud exceeds Rs 500 crore, it had earlier said. PTI NES VN VN

Cooperative bank fraud: bail denied amid alleged Rs500 crore laundering using shell companies and bribery. The court found prima facie materials showing active involvement of the accused in money laundering arising from the cooperative bank fraud, relying on investigative statements that shell companies were created in connivance, bank funds were fraudulently disbursed and routed and some funds paid as a bribe followed by acquisition of immovable property; it also observed evidence destruction allegations, held arrests justified, and noted a chargesheet against 39 persons with loans sanctioned through over 100 accounts.