New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) executed searches across roughly 17 premises in Kolkata, Delhi and Bengaluru as part of a fresh probe into alleged contraventions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) involving McNally Bharat Engineering Company Ltd (MBECL).
The raids targeted locations linked to the engineering conglomerate, individuals connected with its recent acquisition, and assorted affiliated entities. The operation follows MBECL's entry into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), where a resolution plan submitted by BTL EPC received approval.
Investigators are now scrutinising the origins of the capital used to secure control of MBECL, as well as a series of financial movements associated with the company. A key line of enquiry is whether the insolvency mechanism was leveraged to enable an indirect re‑acquisition of the firm by parties who, under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, would be barred from taking direct ownership.
Materials seized—including documents, ledgers and electronic records—are being examined to piece together the monetary flow and any potential violations. To date, none of the individuals or entities whose premises were searched have issued a public response.
