CBI continues raids at Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari's residence in loan default case

Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari allegedly swindled Rs 3,695 crore from banks.

New Delhi: The CBI raid at the residence of Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari has been underway for more than 20 hours. Two teams of CBI on Tuesday conducted raid at the Kanpur residence of Kothari.

Days after the Nirav Modi-PNB scam, the banking sector took another big hit with Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari allegedly swindling Rs 3,695 crore from banks, prompting central probe agencies to register cases, question him and carry out searches at his residence.

The banks involved in Rotomac's case, in which the CBI as well as the ED have registered separate cases, with the defaulted loan amount in brackets were Bank of Baroda (Rs 456.53 crore), Bank of India (Rs 754.77 crore), Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 49.82 crore), Allahabad Bank (Rs 330.68 crore), Oriental Bank of Commerce (Rs 97.47 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 771.07 crore) and Union Bank of India (Rs 458.95 crore), the CBI said.

It alleged the accused had cheated a consortium of seven banks by siphoning off bank loans to the tune of Rs 2,919 crore without interest and bank charges and total outstanding amount along with liabilities were pegged at Rs 3,695 crore.

The CBI case, which was registered after receiving a complaint from Bank of Baroda, names Kanpur-based Rotomac Global Pvt Limited, its director Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana Kothari, and son Rahul Kothari and unknwon bank officials.

They have been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to cheating and forgery as well as Prevention of Corruption Act.