The sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have booked directors and former directors of a Shahjahanpur-based rice company for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 43.98 crore by siphoning of loan funds, officials said Wednesday.
The premier investigation agency has named the directors of the rice company Atarson Overseas Private Ltd., Rachin Gupta, Sunil Gupta, former director Seema Gupta, corporate guarantor Mukesh Kumar Sharma and Ajay Kumar in the alleged cheating case which took place between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2019, the FIR said.
The Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), which is now Punjab National Bank, had sanctioned credit facilities such as cash credit limit of Rs 40 crore and term loan of Rs 4.88 crore on September 14, 2017. During the forensic audit of the company, it was found that the central GST department had raided the premises of the company in Shahjahanpur and Bareilly on October 20, 2018.
The raid revealed “widespread irregularities in sales and purchase invoices” with many invoices being found fake. The company had used numbers of scooters and e-rickshaws on e-way bills purportedly used for ferrying its load across states. The raid showed that the company had allegedly used fake invoices to claim input tax credit of over Rs 90 crore by showing sales and purchases among associates and friendly concerns without any physical delivery of commodities.
It is alleged that another firm, Balaji Farms and Rice Processing, where Rachin Gupta was a common director, had availed a loan of Rs 48 crore from the Nainital Bank for the same project which was funded by the OBC. When the photos of units were exchanged among bankers, the Nainital Bank confirmed to OBC that they had financed the same project but “shockingly” they did not mention Director Identification Number (DIN) of Rachin Gupta which allowed him to avail credit facilities for another company in a different bank, the FIR alleged.
Gupta allegedly did not disclose to OBC that he had taken a cash credit limit of Rs 40 crore from the Nainital Bank. “The accused deliberately manipulated bank accounts, diverted the funds of the bank, evaded tax and took loans from various other banks fraudulently with ill as well as dishonest motive…,” the bank alleged in its complaint which is now part of the FIR.
The bank alleged that the company concealed information from consortium banks in opening accounts with non-consortium banks which constituted fraud. The accused directors also “unanimously” removed entire hypothecated stock from their respective godowns and factory premises and might have destroyed records in their custody in continuance of their offence, it alleged.
