Arvind Dham, who was the chairman of the Amtek Group, is accused of being involved in a big bank fraud worth about ₹2,700 crore. Banks say that loans given to one of his companies, ACIL Ltd, were misused, causing them heavy losses. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which investigates money laundering, arrested him because they believe the money was diverted illegally.
The Supreme Court has allowed Arvind Dham to be released on bail. The trial court will decide the exact bail conditions (like surety, travel restrictions, etc.). Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to give him bail in the same case. The Court refused to give bail to Mr. Dham on August 19 last year, saying that releasing him too early could weaken the investigation and make it harder to hold him responsible.
What is the case about?
Arvind Dham was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 9, 2025 for alleged money laundering linked to an Amtek Group company called ACIL Ltd. The ED’s case is based on CBI complaints filed by IDBI Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.
Banks accused the Amtek Group of cheating and fraud, alleging that it misused bank loans and caused huge financial losses. The group reportedly failed to repay loans worth over ₹2,700 crore that were taken from more than 15 banks. Due to this financial distress and inability to clear debts, several companies under the Amtek Group later went into insolvency.
Other serious claims by ED:
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The ED says Dham secretly owned benami properties (properties held in someone else’s name).
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These properties were allegedly registered in the names of Amtek employees like peons, drivers, and field staff, or people with no real connection to the company.
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According to the ED, Dham controlled these properties but never disclosed them to banks or creditors.
Though the Supreme Court has granted bail to Arvind Dham but the case against him is still ongoing.
The High Court explained that because technology and Artificial Intelligence have grown so much, financial crimes like money laundering have become more common and more dangerous for the country’s financial system. These crimes are hard to investigate because the money moves through complicated transactions and many different people are often involved.
The Court explained that, due to this complexity, investigating agencies must be very careful and detailed in their investigations. This is important so that people who have done nothing wrong are not falsely accused, and so that the real criminals are correctly identified and punished.
