By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Jan 13:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations across the country at the premises of six firms for duping banks by loan defaults and unauthorized diversion of funds.
The complainants: Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank Ltd, EXIM Bank
In the first case the raids were conducted on the premises of PSL Limited (PSL) at Andheri East in North West Mumbai. based on a complaint of the Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank Ltd and EXIM Bank. The CBI registered four FIRs on December 30,2022 against PSL and its directors for allegedly duping above four banks to the tune of Rs.217.37 crore an official statement read.
As per the complaints, the firm that deals with manufacturing and coating pipes had taken the loans, but diverted the money to its subsidiaries. The alleged fraud occurred between 2010 and 2015. The CBI raided eight places in Mumbai and one each at Delhi, Noida, Kutch and Daman. In Mumbai the CBI raided the Andheri office of D N Sehgal, one of the directors of PSL and seized $ 90,413 and Rs.1.99 crore, besides incriminating documents and articles.
The complainants: a consortium of 17 banks headed by Bank of Baroda
In another case, the CBI raided offices of the Prathibha Industries Limited (PIL) (Navi Mumbai) in Mumbai and Thane. The probe agency had registered the FIR on January 10 against PIL and its four directors based on a complaint filed by Bank of Baroda. The complainant alleged that the company, which was into development of infrastructure projects, had taken Rs.4,957.31 crore in loan from a consortium of 17 banks, headed by Bank of Baroda, but failed to repay the amount.
The CBI during investigation, learnt that the accused firm had diverted the borrowed money to related parties and subsidiaries between 2014 and 2017. Besides, it had made false sales and purchase transactions to increase its turnover. The company’s account was classified as nonperforming asset (NPA) on December 31, 2017.
The complainants: a consortium of 10 banks headed by Punjab National Bank
In the third case, offices of the Vadraj Cement Limited (Gujarat) and four of its directors at three locations including Mumbai and Jaipur were raided for defrauding a consortium of 10 banks led by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs.1,688.41 crore.
The accused company had approached PNB and other consortium members for setting up a cement factory at Mora in Surat and Thumdi in Kutch, both in Gujarat. However it allegedly diverted the credit money to related parties and subsidiaries. The alleged fraud occurred between 2009 and 2018. The company’s account was declared NPA on March 20, 2018.
The searched were conducted also at the premises of three other private firms in connection with default in loan repayment. The duped banks- Oriental Bank of Commerce (now merged with PNB)-Rs 51.90 crore, the IDBI Bank-Rs 29.06 crore and Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank)-Rs 105.92 crore.
