CBI Books Navi Mumbai Firm For ₹15 Crore Loan Fraud

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against a Navi Mumbai-based firm and its two partners for allegedly causing a loss of ₹15 crores to Canara Bank through a loan fraud.

The firm had approached Canara Bank for a term loan of ₹15 crores to establish a cold storage project and install 40 Bulk Milk Chilling (BMC) plants in August 2017.

The bank sanctioned the loan, but the company defaulted on repayment and the account slipped into a non-performing asset (NPA) in August 2019.

The CBI complaint alleges that the borrower company and its partners cheated the bank by submitting false quotations for the loan and misutilized the funds by not installing all the plants with the required capacity.

The cost of installing one BMC plant with a 4000-litre capacity was inflated from ₹12.13 lakhs to a higher amount, and the funds were siphoned off by giving contracts to group and sister concerns.

The borrower company and its partners dishonestly induced the bank to avail the term loan and diverted the funds for purposes other than the sanctioned project.

The accused partners allegedly caused a wrongful loss of ₹15 crores to Canara Bank and gained wrongfully for themselves.

The CBI has booked the firm and its partners under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating, conspiracy, and misappropriation of funds.

The case is being investigated by the Economic Offences Branch of the CBI in Mumbai.

The incident highlights the need for stricter lending norms and monitoring by banks to prevent such frauds.

The CBI is taking steps to prevent and investigate such economic offences, and the case is a significant development in the efforts to curb loan frauds in the country.

The investigation is ongoing, and the CBI is likely to arrest the accused partners soon.

The case has sent shockwaves in the banking sector, and it remains to be seen how the investigation unfolds.