The CBI has booked four companies, their directors and others for allegedly cheating Bank of Baroda of ₹190.76 crore.
Among the 12 accused named are Sidhdata Ispat Private Limited, Govardhan Industries, Shri Sidhdata Steel Tubes and Sudershan Tubes. “Searches have been conducted at two places in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and one place in Delhi,” said a CBI official on Friday.
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It is alleged that the accused persons availed themselves of various credit facilities by submitting fake documents to the bank. The funds so raised were diverted.
Bank of Baroda had taken over the loan accounts of the companies from Punjab National Bank between March 2009 and March 2011. Owing to non-repayment of the principal and the interest thereupon, the accounts were classified as Non-Performing Asset (NPA) in 2013-14.
The bank then initiated action under SARFAESI Act for debt recovery.
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In May 2018, the bank got a forensic audit done for the period at least two years prior to the date of NPA. The report, which was submitted in July 2019, disclosed that the accused persons siphoned off the funds received from banks.
The transaction records were not maintained properly. The stock auditors also found frequent inter-firm fund transfers between related companies, other than sale/purchases. The bank alleged that transactions with bogus companies could not be ruled out.
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The accused companies indulged in circular transactions among each other. Payments were made through, and received, in certain bank accounts, whose statements did provide information about the other parties involved.