CBI arrests RP Infosystems directors in Rs 515 bank loan fraud case

Kolkata/New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday arrested Shivaji Panja and Kaustav Ray, both directors of R P Infosystems for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 515.15 crore, officials said.

In 2015, the company, which manufactured computers with brand name 'Chirag', was booked by the CBI for allegedly cheating IDBI bank to the tune of Rs 180 crore.

The CBI has booked R P Info Systems and its directors, including Panja and Ray, for allegedly cheating Canara Bank and nine other consortium members to the tune of Rs 515.15 crore.

The other members of the consortium were State Bank of India, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, and State Bank of Patiala (both now part of the SBI), Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Patiala and Federal Bank.

It is alleged that loans were taken on the basis of false and fabricated documents.

The bank in its complaint on February 26, now a part of the FIR, has alleged that the company had taken funds from the consortium from time to time from 2012 onwards.

These loans have become non-performing asset (NPA), it said. The FIR also named Vijay Bafna and Debnath Pal, VP of the company.

The bank has alleged that the company manipulated financial statements and did not route sale proceeds through the loan account.

The probe agency had booked the company and its directors in 2015 in connection with the case related to IDBI. But in the FIR, the agency had only focused on the exposure to IDBI bank which was over Rs 180 crore.

"During 2013, IDBI Bank relinquished their position as consortium leader after the deliberations with the RBI.

"It is learnt that in the month of December 2013, IDBI Bank lodged a complaint regarding the fraud committed on their bank alone to the CBI and the CBI investigated only their exposure of IDBI Bank," the latest complaint from Canara Bank said.