New Delhi: The CBI has booked Ludhiana-based SEL Textiles Ltd (SELT) and its directors. The CBI has done so as SEL Textiles Ltd has allegedly cheated a consortium of 10 public sector banks. The amount cheated is to the tune of Rs 1,530 crore, officials said Monday.
The directors of the conglomerate Ram Sharan Saluja, Neeraj Saluja and Dhiraj Saluja have been named as accused in the CBI FIR. There also ‘some other’s mentioned in the FIR. The CBI has acted on a complaint from the Central Bank of India. The Central Bank of India alleged that SELT and its directors indulged in criminal conspiracy to defraud the banks. Their aim was to divert the loan funds with an intention to misappropriate them from 2009 to 13. In the process SELT has caused a loss of Rs 1,530 crore to 10 public sector banks of the consortium, officials said.
The bank has said Ram Sharan Saluja and Neeraj Saluja are based in India. However, Dhiraj manages the overseas business of the company and lives abroad. The consortium of banks has requested the CBI to impound the passports of the accused to prevent them from leaving Indian.
The Central Bank of India had declared the account as a non performing asset in 2014. Later other banks also followed, CBI officials said.
The company sought corporate debt restructuring (CDR) during which a special investigative audit was conducted by the banks. The audit showed irregularities on the part of SELT. However, the company did not provide some critical information to auditors. So they could not verify most of the details.
The bank alleged that even after that, the CDR package financials of the company did not improve. After the declaration of NPA, the banks conducted a forensic audit which revealed large scale diversion of loan funds, the FIR alleged.
“Opaque and recalcitrant approach towards lenders and inadequate disclosures during the forensic audit give credence to wilful default impressions,” the audit report concluded.
The Central Bank of India said the company allegedly diverted short term funds for long term uses. It also diverted funds for acquiring unproductive assets, creating additional chain of intermediary for purchases beyond its capacity owing to weak financials, the FIR alleged.
In its complaint, now part of the FIR, the bank has alleged that SEL Manufacturing Co Ltd (SELM), parent company of SELT contributed Rs 380 crore. The audit showed that there was no actual contribution and it was facilitated through the ‘round tripping’ of entries of sales and purchases and adjustment of third party accounts, it alleged.
PTI
