Rs 126cr bank fraud: CBI searches Supertech’s premises, seizes assets worth Rs 28.50 lakh

New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday searched five commercial and residential properties of Supertech Limited and its officials and seized incriminating documents and cash totalling Rs 28.50 lakh in connection with a Rs 126 crore fraud with IDBI Bank.

Earlier, the Bank Securities and Fraud Branch of the federal agency registered an FIR on Thursday against Supertech Limited and its officials for cheating and forgery on the complaint of Hari Kumar Meena, DGM, IDBI Bank, NPA Management Group, New Delhi.

In his complaint, Meena alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using forged documents as genuine, criminal breach of trust and criminal misconduct by the accused directors of Supertech Limited, which has an office in Sector 96 in Noida.

The CBI registered the case, taking note of alleged conspiracy among directors of the company and with unknown public servants, whereby IDBI Bank was cheated to the tune of Rs 126.07 crore after it gave a loan of Rs 200 crore to the real estate firm.

Apart from the company, which has been named as one of the 10 accused, the CBI has also booked directors and other officials of Supertech in the case.

Those named in the FIR include Ram Kishor Arora, Sangita Arora, Mohit Arora, Anil Kumar Sharma, Vikas Kansal, Pradeep Kumar Goel, Anil Kumar Jain and Parul Arora.

The bank’s complaint to the CBI said that Supertech and its officials perpetrated a fraud through acts of misappropriation; fraudulent encashment through forged instruments, manipulation of books of account or fictitious accounts and conversion of property and cheating and forgery (forged balance sheet).

The bank, under a consortium banking arrangement with Union Bank of India, had sanctioned a term loan of Rs 200 crore to the real estate company in 2014.

Meena said in his complaint that the loan was to be paid in 11 equal quarterly instalments starting March 2017, but the company failed to do so, resulting in a principal outstanding of Rs 126.07 crore towards IDBI Bank.

In April, the Supreme Court had ordered a CBI investigation into the nexus between Supertech and eight banks over not completing projects on time and forcing people to pay EMIs.

The apex court had come down heavily on developers and banks for forming an ‘unholy nexus’ in order to deceive homebuyers.

IANS