The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked the directors of a steel firm on charges of cheating the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and causing a loss to the tune of ₹25.89 crore.
The agency’s Economic Offences Branch has registered a case against M/s SAR ISPAT Private Ltd., and its directors Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Sandeep Kothari, Vikranth Sharma and others, for the alleged misappropriation of funds resulting in a wrongful loss to the IOB, Kilpauk Branch in Chennai.
Acting on a complaint lodged by the bank’s chief regional manager, Devender Kumar, the CBI in its FIR said that the accused persons, with an intention to cheat the bank, conspired with unknown public servants and others and fraudulently/dishonestly availed of an enhanced cash credit limit of ₹16 crore, term loans of ₹5.3 crore, a letter of credit of ₹11 crore and a letter of guarantee of ₹60 lakh, sanctioned by the Zonal Level Credit Committee in 2018.
They then diverted ₹109.76 crore to their sister concern companies M/s Devmata Exim Private Ltd., and M/s AKS Alloys Private Ltd., and received an amount as an unsecured loan from these concerns to create capital assets of ₹47.44 crore. They also indulged in other offences, creating assets out of bank funds that they were not sanctioned for.
The alleged actions of the accused, with criminal intentions, caused a wrongful loss of ₹25.89 crore to the bank as on December 31, 2021, and a corresponding wrongful gain to themselves, the investigating agency said.
