MUMBAI, April 3 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has charge-sheeted 13 individuals and entities, including metal-trading firm Ushdev International Ltd (UIL) and its director, Prateek Gupta, in an alleged Rs.1,438.45-crore bank fraud and for siphoning off the Proceeds of Crime (POC) as part of a well-planned conspiracy. The ED probe, as corroborated by the findings of a forensic audit conducted by a consortium of lender banks whose loans remain unpaid, suggested that a part of the POC was invested in an overseas tennis team and an overseas firm having gold mines in Australia. The ED's Mumbai unit began its investigation in August 2022 after an FIR was registered on July 5 by the Central Bureau of Investigation's Mumbai unit against UIL, its two directors and unknown public servants. The CBI case was filed following a complaint by SBI, alleging that UIL, its directors and others had criminally conspired to cheat SBI and four other consortium member banks, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of Maharashtra. As per the FIR, the consortium of banks had sanctioned credit facilities to UIL between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2018. UIL's loan accounts were declared non-performing assets (NPAs) on October 2, 2016. A forensic audit of transactions between April 2013 and May 2018 later flagged several irregularities. The ED probe revealed that funds received through Letters of Credit (LCs) were routed to shell companies and supplier entities controlled by the accused, which acted only as intermediaries. The money was then moved through several entities and allegedly routed back to the Ushdev Group companies through circular transactions without any commercial justification. The ED's investigators also found that a substantial portion of the cash credit funds was diverted to related entities under the guise of advances. Many of these firms were either inactive or not engaged in legitimate business. The probe further revealed that the LC proceeds were used to repay buyers' credit loans linked to imports that were later re-exported to related overseas entities. The export earnings were allegedly not brought back to India and were instead diverted to foreign subsidiaries. The loan fund's money trail revealed that UIL caused the alleged submission of forged, fabricated trade documents, falsely projecting genuine purchase, sale and physical movement of goods, whereas no underlying trade or commercial activity existed. Therefore, backed by such dubious documents, the consortium banks were induced to release credit funds wrongfully. The ED's probe also brought out that imported goods were allegedly exported to overseas controlled entities but the corresponding export proceeds were not repatriated to India and there were no proper recovery measures undertaken. An overseas entity, UGIPL, was allegedly asked not to remit export proceeds directly to UIL in India and instead divert them to his overseas entities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, despite there being no actual trade. HT attempted to contact UIL on its office telephone number but could not reach any official for a comment....