Ludhiana: Another CBI case against textile company directors

LUDHIANA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has slapped another case on the directors of already troubled city-based textile conglomerate, SEL Textiles Limited. The case was registered for cheating a consortium of 10 Indian banks of Rs 1,530 crore.
The Saluja family, including Ram Sharan and both his sons, Neeraj and Dhiraj, who are directors in SEL Textiles Limited, has been named as accused in the FIR along with several others. As per sources in the CBI, a search was also conducted at homes and offices of the directors, but no arrests have been made so far. Some public servants too have been booked under sections 120-B, 403, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC and Section 13(2)r/w13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The FIR was registered by CBI on August 6 on the complaint of the Central Bank of India, in which it was alleged that the company and its directors indulged in criminal conspiracy to defraud the banks and divert loan funds with an intention to misappropriate them between 2009-13, causing a loss of Rs 1,530 crore to 10 public sector banks of the consortium. As per the complaint, SEL also did huge non-genuine transactions with a Canada-based company, Aarti Impex, which has been named in Panama papers.
According to complainant Vinod Kumar Malik of the Central Bank of India, “In 2009, SEL Textiles Limited had availed different loans worth Rs 40.2 crore from our bank. The credit limits were under the consortium banking arrangement and our bank was its leader and Allahabad Bank a member. Thereafter, the company approached our Focal Point, Ludhiana, branch on several occasions for enhancement of cash credit (CC) limits for working capital requirement and also availed several term loans. Various credit limits and enhancements were given over the passage of time and overall Rs 1,530.99 crore plus interest is due from the company to the consortium. A forensic audit report in 2017 was submitted by M/s GSA & Associates, chartered accountants, through which the lenders came to know that the company had diverted huge funds of the banks for wrongful acts.”
Malik also said in his complaint, “Some of the major observations that came to the fore in the report included opaque and recalcitrant approach towards lenders; inadequate disclosures at the time of forensic audit, giving credence to wilful default impression; diversion of short-term funds for long-term uses as well as re-routing of money from business for acquiring unproductive assets; and delay in realisation of sales proceeds from select parties leading to continuous increase in levels of sundry debtors from a few big customers and they all appear to be suspected related entities or acting in concert, controlled directly or indirectly by the company.”
Earlier in November 2019, the CBI had registered a case against SEL Manufacturing Company, in which there were several other directors besides the Saluja trio, on the complaint of Bank of Maharashtra. The bank officials had claimed that the firm had defrauded their institution of Rs 113.55 crore by resorting to various mala fide activities, such as diversion of funds, not utilising the loan for the purpose for which it was sanctioned, improper reporting of the financial data and other charges. At the time too, raids were conducted at various premises of the company.
Repeated attempts to contact the Salujas and other officials of the company remained futile.