The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Transstroy (India) Ltd, a Hyderabad-based company along with its directors for an alleged bank fraud of more than Rs 7,926 crore. The loans were disbursed by a consortium of lenders led by Canara Bank.
The central investigating agency lodged a case after receiving a complaint by an official of the Union Bank of India. The investigating officials have claimed that this is the biggest banking scam in the country to date even surpassing the amount siphoned off by diamantaire Nirav Modi.
In a statement, the CBI said that it conducted searches of the company's premises and of the accused directors, including former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, which resulted in the recovery of incriminating documents. In addition to the company, Rao, the company's additional director, Cherukuri Sridhar, its chairman-cum-managing director, and another additional director, Akkineni Satish, has also been named in the FIR. It was alleged that the Hyderabad-based private company and its directors had used several banking agreements to access credit facilities.
CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur added, "The consortium was formed with other banks, led by Canara Bank. It was further alleged that the accused had involved in falsification/fabrication of books of accounts, fudging of stock statements, tampering of balance sheets, round-tripping of funds, etc." The CBI has charged that the directors misappropriated loans, causing the members of the consortium to lose Rs 7,926.01 crore. "Searches were conducted at the premises of private company/other accused at Hyderabad and Guntur, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents," Gaur further added.
Fraud amount more than Nirav Modi case
It is pertinent to note that diamantaire Nirav Modi had allegedly siphoned off Rs 6,000 crore. Moreover, his uncle Mehul Choksi had swindled Rs 7,080.86 crore. The fraud at Transstroy (India) Ltd alleged goes more than Rs 7,926 Crore making it the biggest banking fraud in Indian Banking history.
