CBI books 'Raindrop' basmati rice producer in massive bank fraud
In probably one of the biggest bank frauds in recent times, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday filed a case against a private rice producing company, which was once listed on the London and Singapore stock exchanges other than the BSE and co-sponsored IPL's Delhi Daredevil team in 2013.
CBI alleges that the company — REI Agro Limited, which sells basmati rice under brand name 'Raindrops' — defaulted on loans of Rs 3,814.30 crore from a consortium of 15 public sector banks led by UCO bank. Credit facilities in such huge amounts was availed by REI, 2013 onwards but the money was never returned to the banks, says CBI.
The CBI claims that the preliminary probe suggests that there was major diversion of funds from bank loans to other ventures of the company.
After registering a case of cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery, the CBI raided the premises of REI in Delhi, Kolkata and Haryana's Rewari distict and recovered large number of documents related to the businesses of the company, 10 hard disks and rubber stamps of Andhra Bank and a Dubai-based company.
The CBI has named the firm and its directors — Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, Sandip Jhunjhunwala, N K Gupta and Krishna Daya Ghosh — in its FIR, registered on Monday.
The company could not be reached for comments.
CBI sources said that the company had allegedly created a web of shell companies to facilitate fraudulent transactions related to rice trading, and defrauded banks in India and abroad.Officials added that REI also aggressively publicised its brand on the Mumbai local trains six years back, spending huge money on marketing.
The company was reportedly formed in 1994 and for some period remained listed on London Stock Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange. It also ran 400 super stores across India with the brand name of 6Ten.
In fact, CBI sources said that in Singapore, financial service provider Credit Suisse has sued the company for $80 million.
The company, on its website, boasts of it being the world's largest basmati rice processing and marketing company.
Source:BankingUpdates.
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