For allegedly engaging in a Rs 87.46 crore bank loan fraud, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against Siddhi Vinayak Logistics Limited (SVLL).
According to a senior CBI official, Uma Shankar Sinha, Assistant General Manager (AGM), Punjab National Bank (PNB) Zonal SASTRA Center, Mumbai, filed a complaint with the investigation agency in March 2021 alleging that the defendants had committed bank loan fraud.
Sinha said that between 2013 and 2017, Roop Chand, the director of SVLL, sought a term loan of Rs 100 crore to purchase 335 vehicles. The bank sanctioned the loan for purchase of 335 vehicles, however, the company provided list of only 240 vehicles.
As the bank suspected that the borrower did not purchase the remaining 95 vehicles and diverted the funds, it appointed a chartered accountant to verify the genuineness of the transactions.
Following an internal investigation, the bank discovered that only 221 of the 240 vehicles extended as primary security were hypothecated to PNB.
One vehicle was hypothecated to the State Bank of India (SBI), and in respect of 10 vehicles, there was no charge to any bank. The details of the remaining eight vehicles could not be verified due to non-payment of road taxes.
It was also revealed that some of the vehicles hypothecated to PNB were actually financed by Andhra Bank and SBI, which means that the SVLL had obtained multiple financings for the same set of vehicles.
"SVLL dishonestly and fraudulently disposed of the hypothecated asset with a view to cheating the bank." "RTO registrations for 95 vehicles were not submitted by the company."
"Either the borrower did not purchase 95 vehicles or they were not registered with an appropriate RTO." "The accused have caused wrongful losses of Rs 87.46 crore and made wrongful gains," the PNB alleged in the complaint.
According to the CBI, they have filed a case under the appropriate IPC sections after receiving the complaint.
With inputs from agencies.
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