KOCHI: The CBI on Wednesday arrested Abdul Rasheed, alias Heera Babu, former managing director of Heera Constructions, and his son Subin Abdul Rasheed, who is also a director of the firm, in a cheating case. The duo was produced before the Special Court for CBI cases in Thiruvananthapuram, which remanded them to police custody till March 15.
The case was registered on a complaint filed by SBI Thiruvananthapuram regional manager alleging fraudulent diversion of fund causing a loss of Rs 15 crore to the bank.The company had availed a project loan of `15 crore for construction of Heera Lake Front Apartments at Akkulam in 2013 from the Kowdiar branch of State Bank of Travancore which was to be repaid by December 23, 2016. However, the project was not completed as scheduled and the bank extended the loan period to December 23, 2017. The loan was again not repaid and the building not completed. All 72 people who purchased flats had paid the full amount.
Abdul Rasheed had purchased Heera Plaza in Kollam city in 1996. He mortgaged 26 shops with SBT Kowdiar branch in 2008 for a cash credit loan. In 2012, SBT approved release of four shops to Heera Constructions and the remaining 22 shops were given as collateral security for the loan taken for Lake Front Apartments. In 2014, he sold nine shops to Murali of Cloth Centre, Kollam. It emerged that SBT Kowdiar had issued a non-liability certificate to Murali to pledge the shops as security for a `1-crore chit taken from KSFE. The duo’s custody was sought to unearth the role of public servants in the fraud.