In what could be a new banking scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked former chairman-cum-managing director of UCO Bank Arun Kaul and others as the agency carried out searches at 10 locations.
They have been accused of having involvement in an alleged Rs. 621-crore loan fraud which has caused a loss of over Rs. 737 crore to the bank, media reports quoted officials as saying.
Besides Kaul, the CBI files cases against Era Engineering Infra India Ltd. (EEIL), its CMD Hem Singh Bharana, two chartered accountants — Pankaj Jain and Vandna Sharda — and Pawan Bansal of Altius Finserve Pvt. Ltd. among others, they reportedly said.
It is alleged that the accused persons in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy defrauded the UCO Bank to the tune of about Rs. 621 crore by diversion and siphoning of the bank loans, reported PTI.
Kaul, who was the CMD of a Kolkata-based bank between 2010 and 2015, allegedly facilitated the accused company in obtaining the loan, officials were quoted as saying.
The loan was secured by producing false end-use certificates issued by the chartered accountant and by fabricating business data. The loan was not utilized for the sanctioned purpose, the CBI has alleged.
“Searches are being conducted at 10 places (8 in Delhi and 2 in Mumbai) including the office premises of the companies, chartered accountants and the residence of the aforesaid accused persons,” a PTI report quoted the CBI spokesperson as saying.
In its complaint, now part of the CBI FIR, the bank alleged that two loans were issued to the company in 2010 — Rs. 200 crore in March and Rs. 450 crore in October, the report added.
