Apprehending to be next Vijay Mallya, court dismissed application of accused to go abroad
Neha Sharma | TNN | Feb 8, 2019, 23:18 ISTCHANDIGARH: CBI apprehensions regarding one of the accused in 361 crore fraud scam , to be next Vijay mallya if allowed to go abroad, the special court of CBI dismissed his application to visit abroad in case of fraud that caused Rs 321 crore loss to the IOB, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB ). One of the accused namely Gaurav Kirpal, Directors of Chandigarh based M/s Sai Bhakti Impex Private Limited had moved application in court to visit abroad from February 12 till March 23 .The CBI opposed this application stating that if he allowed to move aboard , he would be next Vijay Mallya who wont come back.The Specail court of CBI dismissed his application stating that court “cant believe” his grounds to go abroad.
The court order reads, “The court cannot believe the grounds taken in application for visting abroad to be genuine one and the apprehensions raised by CBI fleeing of applicant from country seems plausible at this stage of investigation. As such ,keeping in view of the seriousness of the case and the fact that hes not to recover even single penny from Besco international, and the fact that he has failed to appear before investigation officer on three consecutive dates for the purpose of investigation , does not make Him eligible to visit abroad.”
The accused is stated to be Involved in business of supply of ready made garments and he had pleaded that the trauma of investigation for two years affected his business and if he is not allowed to visit aboard the there are remote chances of revival of his business. He had pleaded to go to Dubai and USA from February 12 till March 23 to meet his business obligations. He had pleaded that he wanted to go to Dubai to recover Rs4 crore from another company named Besco international
The CBI Prosecutor KP Singh opposes his application and stated that It is reflected from his past conduct that the accused wanted to flee India on false grounds. Ot was also argued that he is serious economic offender of committing high ticket fraud and there is strong apprehension and likelihood that he will flee the country to evade trial and arrest wont be available for investigation.The Prosecutor stated that if allowed he wound be next Vijay mallya who wont come back.
The CBi prosecutor KP Singh also pointed out that On 9 8 2016 while departing to UAE , he was offloaded by immigration authorities at new delhi and handed over to cbi. It was also mentioned that family members of accused are also not in India for quite long time and if he is permitted to go abroad he will noy come to India to face criminal case.
As far as recovery of Rs 4 crore from the company is concerned, CBI showed the memorandum of understanding between his company and other showed no outstanding towards Besco international.
Case
There are 41 accused who had indulged into “trade based money laundering” which caused Rs 321 crore loss to exchequer.Initially the CBI had registered case against them but later on Ed also investigate the matter and filed compliant against them .
It was stated that The accused, in connivance with the branch officials, siphoned off bank funds under the garb of Letters of Comfort in favour of the Hong Kong-based company intentionally issued by officials of the Indian Overseas Bank, Chandigarh, to the Punjab National Bank, Dubai, and the Bank of Baroda, Bahamas. .Out of 41 accused, few accused were identified as ex-Assistant Manager of the Chandigarh Branch of the IOB - Ashu Mehra,: proprietors of two Chandigarh-based private firms – Dinesh Kumar of M/s Vision Procon, Amanpreet Singh Sodhi of M/s Heights International; Aman Kirpal and Gaurav Kirpal, Directors of Chandigarh based M/s Sai Bhakti Impex Private Limited; Brigadier (Retd.) MS Dullat of Chandigarh and M/s Colour Wave (HK) Limited in Hong Kong. The Vision Procon and Heights International are also accused in the case..
The matter dates back to August 8,2016 when Delhi CBI registered FIR under Section 120B read with 420 of IPC and Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 on the allegations that accused Ashu Mehra had been working as an Assistant Manager, Forex Department, Indian Overseas Bank, Chandigarh Main Branch since 2010 and was also having the authority to make and check all SWIFT messages of the Bank. The accused Ashu Mehra, two more officers, have been named by the bank in their complaint letter to have been working as Assistant Managers in the Bank and further informed to be also handling forex operations & were having the authority to make & check all SWIFT messages of the Bank branch .
Modus operandi
ED stated that The Indian Overseas Bank informed that the Accused (Ashu Mehra), the master mind indulged in issuing Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) through SWIFT messages fraudulently in collusion with others to cheat the Bank; Also the overseas banks had provided Buyers Credit to their customers on the basis of the LOU issued by the IOB, Chandigarh and hence the said overseas banks were demanding IOB to remit the said amount to them. It has been further informed by the IOB that on verification of their records, it was found that no such request for letter of comfort to the Buyers Credit was authorized by the Branch Manager .However Letter of Undertaking were issued through swift messages by accused Ashu Mehra and his other bank staff accused Nitish Negi and Gaurav Bhatia by abusing their official position. the accused Ashu Mehra of IOB, in collusion with other staff members by indulging in afore-said modus-operandi had created liability against the bank to the tune of Rs. 321.00 crores (calculated at the exchange rate of Rs. 67.00 per USD) which is due for payment between 01.07.2016 to 28.01.2017
It was also alleged that there was no movement of goods & services or underlying commercial transactions behind these fraudulent transfers of funds.The said proceeds of crime were repatriated to various beneficiaries by resorting to trade-based money laundering. During the investigation ,it was revealed that the proceeds of crime were found to have been shared by the beneficiaries between themselves by issuing fake bills of fabrics and yarn and sometimes even no bills were issued for settling the irregular funds so received and in few instances the parties have shown the same as trade advance; that the details of 15 fraudulent LOUs / Buyers Credit issued through SWIFT messages which resulted in creation of a liability to the tune of Rs. 321.00 crores on the Indian Overseas Bank
What is SWIFT
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. It is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes.
Court order
The court cannot believe the grounds taken in application for visting abroad to be genuine one and the apprehensions raised by CBI fleeing of applicant from country seems plausible at this stage of investigation. As such ,keeping in view of the seriousness of the case and the fact that hes not to recover even single penny from Besco international, and the fact that he has failed to appear before investigation officer on three consecutive dates for the purpose of investigation , does not make Him eligible to visit abroad.”
The court order reads, “The court cannot believe the grounds taken in application for visting abroad to be genuine one and the apprehensions raised by CBI fleeing of applicant from country seems plausible at this stage of investigation. As such ,keeping in view of the seriousness of the case and the fact that hes not to recover even single penny from Besco international, and the fact that he has failed to appear before investigation officer on three consecutive dates for the purpose of investigation , does not make Him eligible to visit abroad.”
The accused is stated to be Involved in business of supply of ready made garments and he had pleaded that the trauma of investigation for two years affected his business and if he is not allowed to visit aboard the there are remote chances of revival of his business. He had pleaded to go to Dubai and USA from February 12 till March 23 to meet his business obligations. He had pleaded that he wanted to go to Dubai to recover Rs4 crore from another company named Besco international
The CBI Prosecutor KP Singh opposes his application and stated that It is reflected from his past conduct that the accused wanted to flee India on false grounds. Ot was also argued that he is serious economic offender of committing high ticket fraud and there is strong apprehension and likelihood that he will flee the country to evade trial and arrest wont be available for investigation.The Prosecutor stated that if allowed he wound be next Vijay mallya who wont come back.
The CBi prosecutor KP Singh also pointed out that On 9 8 2016 while departing to UAE , he was offloaded by immigration authorities at new delhi and handed over to cbi. It was also mentioned that family members of accused are also not in India for quite long time and if he is permitted to go abroad he will noy come to India to face criminal case.
As far as recovery of Rs 4 crore from the company is concerned, CBI showed the memorandum of understanding between his company and other showed no outstanding towards Besco international.
Case
There are 41 accused who had indulged into “trade based money laundering” which caused Rs 321 crore loss to exchequer.Initially the CBI had registered case against them but later on Ed also investigate the matter and filed compliant against them .
It was stated that The accused, in connivance with the branch officials, siphoned off bank funds under the garb of Letters of Comfort in favour of the Hong Kong-based company intentionally issued by officials of the Indian Overseas Bank, Chandigarh, to the Punjab National Bank, Dubai, and the Bank of Baroda, Bahamas. .Out of 41 accused, few accused were identified as ex-Assistant Manager of the Chandigarh Branch of the IOB - Ashu Mehra,: proprietors of two Chandigarh-based private firms – Dinesh Kumar of M/s Vision Procon, Amanpreet Singh Sodhi of M/s Heights International; Aman Kirpal and Gaurav Kirpal, Directors of Chandigarh based M/s Sai Bhakti Impex Private Limited; Brigadier (Retd.) MS Dullat of Chandigarh and M/s Colour Wave (HK) Limited in Hong Kong. The Vision Procon and Heights International are also accused in the case..
The matter dates back to August 8,2016 when Delhi CBI registered FIR under Section 120B read with 420 of IPC and Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 on the allegations that accused Ashu Mehra had been working as an Assistant Manager, Forex Department, Indian Overseas Bank, Chandigarh Main Branch since 2010 and was also having the authority to make and check all SWIFT messages of the Bank. The accused Ashu Mehra, two more officers, have been named by the bank in their complaint letter to have been working as Assistant Managers in the Bank and further informed to be also handling forex operations & were having the authority to make & check all SWIFT messages of the Bank branch .
Modus operandi
ED stated that The Indian Overseas Bank informed that the Accused (Ashu Mehra), the master mind indulged in issuing Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) through SWIFT messages fraudulently in collusion with others to cheat the Bank; Also the overseas banks had provided Buyers Credit to their customers on the basis of the LOU issued by the IOB, Chandigarh and hence the said overseas banks were demanding IOB to remit the said amount to them. It has been further informed by the IOB that on verification of their records, it was found that no such request for letter of comfort to the Buyers Credit was authorized by the Branch Manager .However Letter of Undertaking were issued through swift messages by accused Ashu Mehra and his other bank staff accused Nitish Negi and Gaurav Bhatia by abusing their official position. the accused Ashu Mehra of IOB, in collusion with other staff members by indulging in afore-said modus-operandi had created liability against the bank to the tune of Rs. 321.00 crores (calculated at the exchange rate of Rs. 67.00 per USD) which is due for payment between 01.07.2016 to 28.01.2017
It was also alleged that there was no movement of goods & services or underlying commercial transactions behind these fraudulent transfers of funds.The said proceeds of crime were repatriated to various beneficiaries by resorting to trade-based money laundering. During the investigation ,it was revealed that the proceeds of crime were found to have been shared by the beneficiaries between themselves by issuing fake bills of fabrics and yarn and sometimes even no bills were issued for settling the irregular funds so received and in few instances the parties have shown the same as trade advance; that the details of 15 fraudulent LOUs / Buyers Credit issued through SWIFT messages which resulted in creation of a liability to the tune of Rs. 321.00 crores on the Indian Overseas Bank
What is SWIFT
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. It is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes.
Court order
The court cannot believe the grounds taken in application for visting abroad to be genuine one and the apprehensions raised by CBI fleeing of applicant from country seems plausible at this stage of investigation. As such ,keeping in view of the seriousness of the case and the fact that hes not to recover even single penny from Besco international, and the fact that he has failed to appear before investigation officer on three consecutive dates for the purpose of investigation , does not make Him eligible to visit abroad.”
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