The CBI has issued a look-out circular against Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) chief Sanjay Singal and his wife in connection with the alleged ₹2,348-crore bank fraud case, it said on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the agency had registered an FIR against the company, Mr. Singhal, his wife and company vice-chairman Aarti and other directors. Searches were also conducted in the premises of the suspects in the National Capital Region, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Odisha.
“It was alleged that the company, through its directors and staff, fraudulently diverted about ₹2,348 crore from the loan accounts of the Punjab National Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce, the IDBI Bank and the UCO Bank, to the various companies and shell firms without any obvious purpose and thereby misused the funds,” an official had said.
The company had availed itself of loan facilities to the tune of ₹47,204 crore from 33 banks and financial institutions from 2007 to 2014 and defaulted on repayments. The lead lender, Punjab National Bank, declared the account non-performing asset, followed by other banks and financial institutions.
The accused conspired with unknown public servants and others to cheat the banks, financial institutions and the government exchequer. They diverted huge amounts, defaulted on repayments and also claimed inadmissible Central Value Added Tax credit, as alleged.