NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday carried out searches at Delhi, Noida at the premises of
Ratul Puri, nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Kamal Nath in connection with an ongoing probe into an alleged
bank fraud case.
Besides Ratul Puri, premises belonging to his father Dipak Puri and M/s
Moser Baer Solar Ltd are also being searched, said CBI sources. Ratul Puri is a former executive Director of MoserBear.
The CBI in August last year had booked Ratul Puri on charges of cheating and defrauding the Central Bank of India to the tune of Rs 355 crores (appox). Besides Puri, his father and mother Deepak and Nita Puri have also been booked by the CBI.
A total of six individuals-all present and former Directors of Moser Baer Limited India Ltd have been booked along with unknown public servants and private individuals. An FIR was registered, on Saturday, on charges of forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct on the complaint of a Deputy General Manager, Central Bank of India.
The agency last year also had carried out searches at six locations including the office and residential premises of M/s Moser Baer- a company involved in manufacture of optical storage media like CDs, DVDs etc.
The Central Bank of India, in its complaint, had told the CBI that Moser Baerowes money to 13 other banks including State Bank of Patiala, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and others.
The complaint stated that multiple loans were given to the company from 2009 and a restructuring plan was approved in 2012 by a consortium which was led by Central Bank of India. Besides multiple properties, personal guarantees by Deepak and Nita Puri (parents of Ratul Puri) were also offered.
The company was declared a non performing asset in November 2014 as per guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with an outstanding amount of Rs 354.51 crores.
The FIR further read that a forensic audit conducted by M/s GSA & Associates brought out the “fraudulent practices” adopted by the company. The report was perused by the consortium members and Central Bank of India on September 26, 2018. The complainant bank has alleged that the sale proceeds of business generated by Moser Baer were not deposited with the consortium banks and instead were “siphoned off”.
It further alleged that Moser Baer chose to write-off exposures worth Rs 1456 crores of its subsidiary companies without prior approval of the banks. The company gave a corporate guarantee of Rs 2051 crores on behalf of its subsidiary companies without seeking prior permission from the banks. “This act of giving guarantees beyond the net worth and that too in disputed waters, without seeking prior permission from the bank clearly point towards the intention of the accused to lure the lenders fraudulently into lending to its subsidiaries and exposed them to potential financial loss”, the complaint reads.
It is further alleged that the Directors of the company committed fraud in respect of reporting book debts, utilised loan money for their personal use and induced Central Bank of India to release the funds.
It might be mentioned here that Ratul Puri stands charge sheeted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in laundering money in the high profile Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal.