The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against Surana Corporation Limited and others for allegedly cheating six banks of ₹2,930 crore.
Among those named in the FIR, which was registered on October 8 following a complaint lodged by the State Bank of India, are Vijayraj Surana, K.E. Devarajan, Jagadish Gopal, S. Guruswamy, Dinesh Chand Surana, Goutam Raj Surana, Shanthilal Surana and C.S. Prithviraj.
The company and others allegedly falsified the books of account and diverted and misappropriated the funds. The bank alleged that the loan account had become irregular and was restructured in 2014. It was declared a fraud in August 2019.
According to the FIR, the company’s dealings with four Singapore-based entities, SEZ Debtors Royal Ventures Pte Limited, Maxiwin International Pte Limited, Fortune Top Investments Pte Limited and Beaufort Overseas Trading Pte Limited, have come under the scanner.
The bank also reportedly found that the company made purchase and sale transactions with the same parties. In 2014, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had conducted searches on its premises and, based on its reference, the Securities and Exchange Board of India also initiated a probe.
In September, the CBI registered a case against Surana Power Limited, Gautham Raj Surana, Shantilal Surana, Vijayraj Surana and Dinesh Chand Surana, for allegedly cheating 10 banks of ₹1,495.76 crore. The outstanding amount as on July 31 this year stood at ₹3,157.82 crore.
In connection with the “missing 100 kg of gold” in Tamil Nadu, the agency had on December 12 clarified that the building of Surana Corporation Limited in Chennai was searched in a case registered in 2012 and 400.47 kg of gold was inventorised. It was kept in safes and vaults of Surana, sealed in the presence of independent witnesses, the MD of Surana corporation and its officials, said the CBI.
On Madras High Court’s directions, the agency said, the vaults were opened in the presence of the official liquidator, officials of six banks and independent witnesses and inspected from February 27 to 29, for the gold to be handed over to the lenders.
“The seals affixed on the vaults were found intact. However, gold weighed only 296.66 kg. As the discrepancy between the quantity mentioned in the search memo and the weight came to its notice, the CBI promptly ordered an internal inquiry by a senior officer into the role of its officials, if any,” said the agency.
The matter is being investigated by the CB-CID of the State on the Court’s directive.
