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CBI Arrests Two Retired Bank Of India Officers For Alleged Rs 2,654-Crore Fraud

The CBI arrested two senior retired officers of Bank of India in connection with an alleged loan fraud.



A pair of standard issue handcuffs sit on a table during a firearms display  in Hong Kong, China. (Photographer: Jerome Favre/Bloomberg)
A pair of standard issue handcuffs sit on a table during a firearms display in Hong Kong, China. (Photographer: Jerome Favre/Bloomberg)

The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested two retired senior officers of Bank of India Ltd. in connection with an alleged loan fraud of Rs 2,654 crore by Vadodara-based Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd.

VV Agnihotri and PK Shrivastava, retired general manager and deputy general manager respectively, had allegedly granted undue favours to the power company in granting credit limits, CBI officials said. Both have been arrested today and will be produced before special court in Ahmedabad tomorrow.

The promoters of the company were arrested in April this year.

The agency in an FIR had said that the DPIL, which manufactures electric cables and equipment, is promoted by Suresh Narain Bhatnagar and his sons Amit and Sumit, who are also the directors of the firm

The loan, it said, was declared a non-performing asset in 2016-17.

"It is alleged that the DPIL, through its management, fraudulently availed credit facilities from a consortium of 11 banks (both public and private) since 2008, leaving behind an outstanding debit of Rs 2,654.40 crore as of June 29, 2016," the agency had said.

Both officials had shown undue favour in the sanction of the working capital Limits to a Vadodara based private firm in the year 2008. It was also alleged that both these officials were responsible for the processing and recommending the Working capital Limits to the tune of approximately Rs. 53.40 crore in violation of the guidelines of the bank. Both of them were also allegedly responsible for disbursal of limits without ensuring compliance of conditions stipulated in the sanction.
Abhishek Dayal, Spokesperson, CBI

The company and its directors managed to get term loans and credit facilities despite being on the Reserve Bank of India's defaulters list and the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation's caution list at the time of the initial sanction of credit limits by the consortium, the CBI alleged.

When the consortium was formed in 2008, the Axis Bank was the lead bank for the term loan and the Bank of India was the lead bank for cash credit limits

It is alleged that the firm, with active connivance of officials from various banks, managed to get enhanced credit facilities.

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