The CBI has filed a charge sheet against businessman Anoop Bartaria and former Syndicate Bank AGM Adarsh Manchanda along with 16 others for allegedly cheating the bank to the tune of Rs 209 crore, officials said.
In its charge sheet submitted in the Special Court in Jaipur, the probe agency has also charged Chartered Accountant (CA) Bharat Bomb in the matter, they said.
"It was alleged in the complaint that 118 loan accounts were sanctioned and disbursed by three branches of Syndicate Bank, namely, M I Road branch, Jaipur, Malviya Nagar branch, Jaipur, and Udaipur branch. The 118 loan accounts were housing loan accounts, term loan accounts for purchase of commercial property of World Trade Park (WTP), OD limits and Foreign Letter of Credits," CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.
It was further alleged that Bomb had hatched a conspiracy with his employees and others, including the branch officials of Syndicate Bank, and got various credit facilities sanctioned.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also said that the accused cheated the bank to the tune of Rs 209.93 crore by availing loans on the basis of forged and fabricated documents, bills, quotations, certificates, among others.
It was also alleged that several of the borrowers were found to be ordinary employees in firms owned by the CA and others and not eligible for such high value loans, Joshi said.
The CBI, during its probe found that as part of the conspiracy, Bomb, Bartaria and others allegedly approached officials of Syndicate Bank M I Road Branch for getting term loans for purchasing commercial properties situated at World Trade Park Ltd, Jaipur on the basis of forged Income Tax returns showing inflated income.
They also submitted forged quotations, invoices, purchase orders and work orders; forged CA certificates and audited financial statements, the CBI spokesperson said.
"It was also alleged that the then manager (Mahesh Gupta) Syndicate Bank, M I Road Branch recommended and the then AGM/Branch Head (Manchanda), Syndicate Bank, M I Road branch had sanctioned various credit facilities by violating the bank guidelines and without exercising due diligence," he said.
The said bank officials allegedly sanctioned term loans for purchase of commercial properties, FLCs, housing loans, OD limits and Working Capital Term Loans to various individuals, firms and companies linked to the said accused, he added.