New Delhi
Continuing its attack on the NDA government on the bank scams happening in the country, the Congress on Saturday alleged that a Diamond merchant having close links with top BJP leaders duped 11 Banks to the tune of ₹2,654.4 cr.
Talking to MEDIA here, AICC spokepserson Pawan Khera said, ‘an FIR filed by the CBI says M/s Diamond Power Infrastructure Limited (DPIL) fraudulently availed Credit Facilities from a consortium of 11 Banks (Axis Bank being the lead bank) by submitting false stock statements, extensively utilizing cash credit limits for obtaining large number of Letters of Credit. DPIL went bankrupt in 2016, leaving behind an outstanding loan of RS 2,654.4 crore.’
Mr Khera said that in March 2015, Bhatnagar was arrested and released on bail by the Central Excise for alleged fraudulent misuse of CenVAT credit and evading Excise Duty worth Rs 40 crore.
‘In July 2016, another complaint against DPIL was filed for allegedly selling off shares owned by a woman, ‘he said.
Alleging that Bhatnagar had close links with several top BJP leaders, Mr Khera distributed to the media some photographs showing the diamond merchant’s close association with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and several other BJP leaders.
‘Amit Bhatnagar is believed to have been one of the chief financiers of the BJP in Vadodara. With BJP Government in the state showering public money on Amit Bhatnagar’s ‘VAD FEST’- A large cultural fest in Vadodara where crores were spent to invite ‘A’ rank celebrities and film stars! According to Amit Bhatnagar’s own admission, ₹26 crore were spent on the first ‘VAD FEST’ in 2016 and a large proportion of it come from the BJP ruled State Government.
Never in the history, had a state created a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) through its Tourism Ministry, to fund a specific Cultural Festival! The SPV, known as Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival Authority, was headed by state Tourism and Finance Minister Saurabh Patel and Mr Patel ensured that Amit Bhatnagar became the chief organizer of the festival,’ Mr Khera said.
Questioning the silence of the Prime Minister on these scams, Mr Khera said,’in the last 51 Days, 13 Bank Loot Scams have come to light. Even the President is now talking about it, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not uttered a word on this saga of ‘Corruption’, ‘Cheating’, and ‘Connivance of his people’ which are unraveling on daily basis.’