Indian-origin banker among 3 held in UK over USD 2 billion fraud schemes

Press Trust of India  |  London 

An Indian-origin is among three people arrested in the UK and face to the US over their alleged role in a USD 2 billion schemes linked with companies in

Surjan Singh, 44, was arrested along with Andrew Pearse, 49 and Detelina Subeva, 37, on Thursday in and charged in an indictment issued by a US District Court in New York, according to the US authorities.

The three men, all former bankers, have been released on bail and now face to the US on the charges.

The scheme allegedly involved loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique, according to a report.

The US indictment says that through a series of financial transactions between approximately 2013 and 2016, more than USD 2 billion was borrowed through loans guaranteed by the

It claims over the course of the transactions, the co-conspirators acted to defraud investors.

They created maritime projects as fronts to raise money to enrich themselves, and "intentionally diverted portions of the loan proceeds to pay at least USD 200 million in bribes and kickbacks to themselves, officials and others," the indictment reads.

In a statement, said the three former employees were accused by the US authorities of "circumventing our internal controls" in a connected to the

"No action has been taken against The indictment alleges that the former employees worked to defeat the bank's internal controls, acted out of a motive of personal profit, and sought to hide these activities from the bank," the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, January 04 2019. 18:05 IST