Mumbai, Jun 16 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches in Maharashtra and Delhi as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities related to a corporate insolvency resolution process, officials said.

They said a total of 17 locations related to Suraksha Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (SARCL), Suraksha Realty Ltd, Khyati Realtors Pvt Ltd, their promoters, directors and employees, along with a former YES Bank employee, were searched in Mumbai, Khandala (Maharashtra) and Delhi.

The companies could not be contacted immediately for a comment on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) action.

The probe pertains to the alleged fraudulent grant of a loan by YES Bank originally to a company named Mackstar Marketing Pvt Ltd, apart from some other loans taken in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years, according to ED officials.

The raids aim to unearth evidence to prove charges of collusion among ARCs (asset reconstruction companies) by engaging in "circular" transactions leading to "fraudulent" takeover of stressed assets, under-valuation of auctioned assets, inflated and fraudulent claims, violation of creditor voting rights in the National Company Law Tribunal and the overall lack of transparency in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, officials said. PTI NES MJH PRK

Corporate insolvency resolution process scrutiny deepens amid alleged circular transactions, fraudulent asset transfers, and voting-rights violations. Enforcement Directorate searches were conducted at 17 locations in Maharashtra and Delhi in a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a corporate insolvency resolution process. The probe concerns an allegedly fraudulent loan and other loans, and is aimed at gathering material on circular transactions, fraudulent takeover of stressed assets, under-valuation of auctioned assets, inflated and fraudulent claims, violation of creditor voting rights, and lack of transparency in the insolvency resolution process.