The CBI on Friday arrested Musaddilal Bhagwat Swaroop (MBS) Jewellers owner Sukhesh Gupta and State-owned Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) senior manager K Ravi Prakash for alleged irregularities in gold imports.
They were produced in the second additional special CBI court (Gagan Vihar) which remanded them in judicial custody till Jan 9. The CBI, however, managed to get their custody for five days.
Officials of the anti-corruption wing of the CBI arrested Gupta after questioning him in connection with a case booked against him early this year. Gupta and Ravi Prakash are accused of causing a loss of `194 crore to the State exchequer through fraudulent deposits and bank guarantees. They were booked under Sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI’s anti-corruption wing had in January registered a case against Gupta and some officials of the MMTC in Hyderabad charging them with entering into a conspiracy to cheat the MMTC and cause a loss of `194 crore.
MMTC is one of the largest bullion importers in India and MBS has been one of its major customers since 2004. The case relates to the import of 500 kilos of gold by MMTC for MBS. The officials of the MMTC who were named as accused in the FIR are V Mohan Rao, general manager, K Anantha Krishna, DGM (F&A), K V Prakash, senior manager, K Ravi Prakash, senior manager (F&A), A Vijaya Bhaskar, deputy manager, Y Ramabheemappa, senior manager (F&A), A Saravanan, deputy manager (F&A) and S Prasanth, deputy manager (F&A). The CBI alleged that some employees of MMTC had connived with Gupta and committed financial irregularities in bullion trading between April 15, 2004 and December 5, 2011.
The CBI has charged that these officials had violated the procedures laid down for the ‘Bullion Drill’ scheme and intentionally failed to collect the mandatory 5% extra additional security for keeping the forex open. They continued to supply gold to MBS against bank guarantees and fixed deposit receipts without covering the exposure.
The agency further alleged that bank statements were fudged to conceal the actual liability of MBS and suppress the actual loss of over `194 crore. It said the MMTC officials had falsely showed the corporation’s exposure to MBS as just `43.44 crore.