Rs 7,000 cr bank fraud: CBI files 42 cases, searches 190 places in 16 States, UTs
| Date :06-Nov-2019 |
NEW DELHI :
The cases pertain to State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, and Punjab and Sind Bank.
IN A massive crackdown on alleged bank fraudsters, the CBI on Tuesday carried out searches at over 190 locations in the country after registering 42 fresh cases in scams involving cumulative funds of over Rs 7,000 crore, officials said. The exercise, launched early in the morning, was carried out throughout the day, with CBI teams knocking the doors of the accused to collect evidence and question them, they said. The cases pertain to State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, and Punjab and Sind Bank, they said.
The operation was spread across 16 States and Union Territories with as many as 1,000 officers of the agency involved in it making it one of the largest coordinated search this year, they said. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in at least four cases, the siphoned off funds are over Rs 1,000 crore. Maximum searches were reported from Maharashtra where the agency’s teams swooped down at 58 locations followed by Punjab, where 32 locations were searched, the officials said.
Twelve locations were searched in the national capital, 17 each in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, 15 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Andhra Pradesh, two in Chandigarh, four each in Kerala, Telangana and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, five each in Gujarat and Haryana, six in Karnataka and two each in Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Among major cases, the CBI has booked promoters and directors of Advantage Overseas Pvt Ltd Shrikant Bhasi, Dinesh Arkot Selvaraj, Manish Kumar Singh, Gagan Sharma and Jijo John for allegedly cheating State Bank of India, Bhopal, by falsifying records to avail credit facilities of Rs 6000 crore. The company involved in bulk trading of agro commodities defaulted on payments causing a loss of Rs 1266 crore to the bank, the officials said.
A separate case has been registered against Energo Engineering Projects Ltd and its directors -- chairman Sujit Das, Dinesh V Singh managing director Jaya Singh -- for availing credit facilities to the tune of Rs 1290 crore on forged documents. Later payment defaults caused a loss of Rs 1266 crore to the bank. Surana Industries in Chennai and its directors Dinesh Chand Surana, Shanti Lal Surana, Gautham Lal Surana, Vijayraj Surana, and others have been named in CBI FIR for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 1083 crore to a consortium of 12 banks led by IDBI, the officials said. It is alleged that they utilised credit facilities, books of accounts and diverted loan funds to different accounts, they said.
Varanasi-based JBL Agro Industries, its Chairman DN Jhunjhunwala and directors SN Jhunjhunwala, Adarsh Jhunjhunwala and Anju Jhunjhunwala had allegedly submitted forged stock statements and balance sheets to induce Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank by taking Rs 518 crore worth of credit facilities from each of them which turned into losses for the public sector banks, the officials said.