Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has restored five immovable properties worth ₹16 crore to Punjab National Bank (PNB) in connection with a high-profile gold fraud and money laundering case involving Ghanshyamdas Gems and Jewels and its managing partner, Sanjay Agarwal.
Originally valued at ₹2.55 crore during the filing of the FIR in October 2011, the assets have appreciated significantly over time. The ED carried out the restitution under Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, after receiving approval from the Special PMLA Court in Nampally.
ED restores ₹16 crore properties after laundering probe into gold scam
The case began with a CBI FIR dated October 19, 2011, which alleged that Sanjay Agarwal used forged bank guarantees, purportedly from PNB, to fraudulently secure 250 kg of gold. Once the fraud surfaced, Agarwal and his brothers reportedly removed the mortgaged gold from their Abids showroom and sold it in the market, laundering the cash through multiple entities created in the names of relatives, staff, and benamis.
The ED probe uncovered large-scale misuse of the banking system, including unaccounted cash deposits across various accounts. Agarwal also obtained a passport under a false identity, Srikanth Gupta, used it to travel abroad, and opened offshore accounts to hide and layer the illicit proceeds. Investigators traced benami properties to one of his employees.
Earlier, the ED had arrested Sanjay Agarwal on February 11, 2022, provisionally attached nine immovable properties, and filed a prosecution complaint on April 11, 2022.
On January 19, 2026, the Special PMLA Court granted PNB’s plea for asset restitution, clearing the way for the return of the attached properties to the defrauded bank.