Special Court Cognizance Deepens: ED’s Supplementary Complaint Adds International Dimension
(Judicial Quest News Network)
New Delhi: 22, April,2026 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has slapped a supplementary prosecution complaint on UK resident Sachin Dev Duggal before the Special PMLA Court at Rouse Avenue, escalating its money-laundering probe into the Videocon Group’s alleged $2.03 billion diversion of bank loans meant for overseas oil assets.
Investigation has, prima facie, disclosed a complex and structured financial arrangement allegedly designed to facilitate the diversion and laundering of funds from Videocon Industries Limited for the ultimate benefit of Sachin Dev Duggal, Chairman of nHoldings SA and the beneficial owner of Indian technology entities Nivio Technologies and Engineer.AI.
The material on record indicates that the alleged scheme traces its origin to the year 2008, when Videocon Industries Limited began extending interest-free financial accommodations aggregating to approximately ₹17.32 crore to Duggal-controlled M/s Nivio Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
Notably, these transactions were undertaken in the absence of any formal loan agreement, raising serious concerns regarding their commercial rationale and regulatory compliance.
It was only on 24 May 2011 several years after the initial disbursals that a loan agreement was executed, in what appears to be a belated attempt to regularise prior transactions.
Significantly, on the very next day, an overseas entity of the Videocon Group is alleged to have invested CHF 37.9 lakh in nHoldings SA at a valuation that is described as grossly inflated, particularly in light of the company’s loss-making financial position.
The investigation further reveals that, between 2011 and 2014, funds to the tune of USD 37.07 lakh (approximately ₹20.12 crore) were routed from Videocon through a layered network of five overseas entities before being channelled to nHoldings SA and, in part, directly to Duggal. Such routing, according to the investigating agency, bears the hallmarks of a deliberate attempt to obscure the audit trail and camouflage the origin of funds.
Corroborative financial records of M/s Nivio Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. indicate that during the financial year 2011–12, the company received an infusion of ₹35 crore from nHoldings. This inflow coincides temporally with the period during which Videocon Group entities were transferring funds into nHoldings SA, thereby suggesting a possible circular movement of funds.
The synchronisation of these transactions has been flagged as a critical indicator of layering and integration key stages in money laundering.
Simultaneously, the corporate structure of the Nivio group underwent significant reorganisation. nHoldings SA was positioned as the ultimate holding company of Nivio Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., while M/s Nivio Cloud Computing India Pvt. Ltd. was interposed as an intermediate shareholder entity.
This restructuring effectively consolidated control of the entire corporate chain both domestic and offshore under Duggal.
Investigators allege that such restructuring was not merely incidental but instrumental in facilitating the movement and eventual absorption of funds within entities under common control.
Despite these substantial financial movements, the end utilisation of the funds remains unexplained.
Of particular note is the financial statement of nHoldings SA for the year ending 31 March 2013, which records a complete write-off of its investment in Nivio.
This write-off, in the absence of any corresponding commercial justification, has been viewed as a potentially significant indicator of financial impropriety.
The conduct of Duggal during the course of the investigation has also come under scrutiny. Despite multiple summons issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 by the Enforcement Directorate from January 2022 onwards, he has failed to appear in person.
Instead, it is alleged that he furnished only partial and evasive responses through email communications, which, according to the agency, have impeded the progress of the investigation.
Taken cumulatively, the material gathered thus far is stated to indicate a prima facie case of a premeditated and multi-layered financial arrangement aimed at the diversion, concealment, and eventual laundering of funds, warranting further judicial scrutiny.
