PMLA Court Closes ED Case against BJP Leader Mohit Kamboj after CBI Drops ₹67.22 Crore Loan Fraud

Moneylife Digital Team 21 January 2026

Economy & Nation

A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has closed a money laundering case against Bagla Overseas Pvt Ltd, its managing director (MD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mohit Kamboj, and several other directors, after central bureau of investigation (CBI) shut the main offence linked to the case.

Last week, special judge RB Rote accepted the closure report filed by directorate of enforcement (ED), holding that the money laundering proceedings could not continue in the absence of a subsisting predicate offence. The case related to an alleged ₹67.22 crore loan default involving Bank of India.

“The closure report filed by the CBI in respect of the predicate offence has already been accepted by the competent court. Hence, continuation of the enforcement case information report (ECIR) is not maintainable,” the judge says, ordering closure of the ED case.

CBI had registered a first information report (FIR) on 12 June 2020, following a complaint by Bank of India, accusing Bagla Overseas, earlier known as Avyaan Overseas Pvt Ltd, and its promoters and directors of cheating the Bank and causing a loss of ₹67.22 crore. Mr Kamboj, who was MD and a guarantor, was named along with directors Jitendra Gulshan Kapoor, the late Naresh Madanji Kapoor, Siddhant R Bagla and Irtesh Mishra. The FIR also named KBJ Hotels Goa Pvt Ltd and unidentified bank officials.

Based on the CBI FIR, ED initiated a money laundering probe in June 2020 and registered an ECIR. However, the investigation lost its legal foundation after Bank of India accepted a one-time settlement of ₹30 crore from the borrower in 2023 and issued a no-objection certificate for closure of the case.

Following the settlement, CBI filed a closure report in May 2023, which was accepted by a special CBI court the following month, bringing the main cheating case to an end. ED subsequently approached the PMLA court seeking closure of its proceedings, stating that prosecution could not be sustained once the predicate offence no longer existed.

According to the original allegations, Avyaan Overseas had secured export credit facilities of about ₹60 crore from Bank of India but failed to route its transactions through the lender. Investigators alleged that the company raised bills on sister concerns, diverted funds for the purchase of properties in the names of family members and failed to realise export proceeds, eventually leading the account to be classified as a non-performing asset.

CBI had also pointed to discrepancies in the valuation of collateral offered to the Bank. While an earlier valuation pegged the Goa property at ₹41.43 crore, a later assessment valued it at ₹12.51 crore, significantly increasing the Bank’s exposure.

The Court’s order marks the second such closure accepted in recent days, after a similar ED case linked to Tenet Exim Pvt Ltd was shut following the closure of the underlying CBI offence.

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