VIJAYAWADA: In a major banking scam, post-Nirav Modi’s, the Central Bureau of Investigation booked Hyderabad-based Transstroy (India) Ltd, its promoter and former TDP MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao for an alleged bank fraud of Rs 7926.01 crore in a consortium, led by Union Bank of India.
Transstroy (India) Ltd was engaged in execution of irrigation and infrastructure projects, including the mega Indira Sagar Polavaram Project, in Andhra Pradesh, through a joint venture firm.
In its FIR, the CBI has named the company, its CMD Cherukuri Sridhar and additional directors Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Akkineni Satish as accused. Rao has been booked in two cases related to the alleged fraud with the second amounting to Rs 313.79 crore approximately.
The agency said it carried out searches at the premises of the company and accused directors in Hyderabad and Guntur, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents. The CBI alleged that loans were misappropriated by the directors causing a loss of Rs 7926.01 crore to the consortium members.
“The consortium was formed with other banks, led by Canara Bank. It was alleged that the accused had been involved in falsification/fabrication of books of accounts, fudging of stock statements, tampering of balance sheets, round tripping of funds etc,” CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said, in a press release.
The company is in trouble with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registering a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case against Transstroy for irregularities in foreign exchange transactions.
The ED was probing allegations that the company had transferred funds to Singapore and Russia violating FEMA rules via a joint venture company, Polavaram Project Transstroy and JSC EC UES, a Russian company. Transstroy is currently under liquidation process as per an order by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in September 2019.
A second case, a fraud to the tune of Rs 313.79 crore, has been registered against a private subsidiary company based in Chennai and others including its chairman, director, unknown public servants and private persons on a complaint from the State Bank of India.
It was alleged that the borrower company availed credit limits of Rs 310 crore from the SBI. However, the loan amounts were diverted to related parties.
The account became a Non-Performing Asset and hence, was declared a fraud resulting in an alleged loss of Rs 313.79 crore (approx) to the bank.
According to the CBI, diamantaire Nirav Modi has allegedly siphoned off Rs 6,000 crore while his uncle Mehul Choksi had swindled Rs 7,080.86 cr, making it the country’s biggest banking scam at over Rs 13,000 crore.