MUMBAI, Aug. 26 -- The Mumbai zonal unit of the enforcement directorate (ED) on Sunday arrested businessman Amit Thepade as part of its money-laundering probe related to an alleged Rs.117.06-crore fraud in Canara Bank. The accused had allegedly defrauded the public sector bank by availing of loans and mortgaging properties that had either been sold or already mortgaged. The loans were acquired via two of his firms and subsequently diverted for personal use, said ED officials. Thepade, who had allegedly been evading the authorities for some time, was arrested after intelligence inputs led the ED to a five-star hotel in South Mumbai where he had been staying for the past two months. Searches conducted at the hotel premises led to the freezing of more than 50 bank accounts, seizure of cash of Rs.9.5 lakh, bullion, gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs.2.33 crore, two vehicles and digital devices suspected to contain crucial evidence related to financial transactions. The financial details seized in the operation are being scrutinised by the ED for their possible evidentiary value, officials said. A city-based special court has remanded Thepade to ED custody for five days. The ED investigation is based on two cases registered in December 2022 by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Pune, against the accused's firms, Galaxy Constructions and Contractors Private Limited and Mitsom Enterprises Private Limited. The companies, owned and controlled by Thepade, had allegedly availed of credit facilities from Canara Bank by mortgaging various immovable properties....