VIJAYAWADA: Two prominent politicians from the state, BJP leader Y Sujana Chowdary and TDP’s Ryapati Sambasiva Rao, got a jolt from banks Thursday for failing to pay their dues.
While Bank of India issued a public notice for e-auction of properties under the control of Sujana Chowdary for defaulting on a loan amounting to Rs 400.84 crore, the Andhra Bank came out with a similar notice to recover Rs 873.37 crore from Transstroy (India) Ltd and family members of Rayapati. Auctions for both will be conducted on March 23.
The notice is yet another setback to Sujana Chowdary, who has been on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for some time for allegedly defrauding banks up to Rs 6,000 crore through his companies.
In the latest case, Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, based in Hyderabad, had borrowed from Bank of India and owed it a little over Rs 322 crore plus 13.95 interest per annum from October 26, 2018. The outstanding amount including interest now stands at Rs 400.84 crore. The company, which is engaged in manufacturing iron and steel products, was earlier searched by the CBI in a similar case of bank default.
Five properties, all house sites, up for auction are located in Sriperumbudur Taluk, Tamil Nadu. Sujana holds power of attorney in the case of four and directly owns one. Sujana has a chance to pay up before the date fixed for the auction. The auction notice comes just three months after his wife received a notice from the Debt Recovery Tribunal following failure to pay Rs 169 crore borrowed from the IDBI Bank in Chennai.
In November 2018, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 315 crore, including six luxury cars, following raids on Sujana’s residence and offices.
He was at the time accused by the ED of defrauding banks up to Rs 6,000 crore by floating more than 120 shell companies. Sujana group of companies have been raking up losses consistently. His problems began after the CBI registered three FIRs based on complaints from three banks for defaulting on loans amounting to Rs 364 crore. From there, the ED too joined the probe. Sujana Chowdary has denied all allegations.
The case of Rayapati is similar with his Transstroy (India) Ltd accused by the CBI of diverting almost Rs 3,800 crore borrowed from a consortium of banks. The CBI had registered an FIR naming Sambasiva Rao, and company MD Cherukuri Sridhar.
The ED had also booked a FEMA case against the company for irregularities in foreign exchange transactions.
In the instant case, the Andhra Bank issued the auction notice to sell off a commercial building in Guntur and a flat in New Delhi. It named Transstroy (India) Ltd, Cherukuri Sridhar, Sambasiva Rao’s son and daughters among the borrowers. Sambasiva Rao has denied all allegations of fraud.