Rs 5,000 Crore Fraud in Andhra Bank by Sterling Biotech

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the a former director of Andhra Bank in connection with a money laundering probe case involving a Gujarat-based pharma firm ‘Sterling Biotech’. The ED had alleged that Mr Anup Prakash Garg, former director  had infused several crores of his unaccounted cash in various companies through many Kolkata based bogus shell companies with the help of cash/cheque entry operators in Kolkata to launder the proceeds of crime obtained by him from the Sandesaras. 

Chetan Sandesara and his brother Nitin Sandesara, directors of Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech, who have been named as the main accused, left the country long before investigators came to know of the alleged fraud and opened a case against the firm. They are beloeved to be in Dubai or Nigeria. Government of India doesn’t have any bipartite treaty with either of countries.

It is alleged that the company took loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank which had turned into non-performing assets.

Read – PSU Bank CEOs To Face Penal Action in Failure of Checking NPA Frauds

The agency said it had registered a PMLA case against the Sandesara brothers– Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara– and their Vadodara-based company Sterling Biotech Ltd and others on October 27 last year, two days after a case of alleged bank fraud of ₹ 5,700 crore and corruption was filed against them by the CBI.

“Loans to the tune of ₹ 5,700 crore was disbursed by various banks during the years 2004-2012. Look Out Circulars (LOCs) were opened against the accused in August, 2017.

The ED and the CBI have booked the company, its directors– the Sandesara brothers, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former director Andhra Bank Anup Garg and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case.

As per the FIR, the total pending dues of the group of companies were ₹ 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016. The ED has taken cognisance of this FIR to file its PMLA case.

input – thehindu