A Thane sessions court on Monday granted bail to Rohan Developers director Hareesh Mehta in connection with the alleged Rs280 crore loan fraud case on the complaint of State Bank of India (SBI).
CBI opposed bail application
The CBI opposed the bail application. Prosecutor Jitendra Kumar Sharma submitted before a Thane court that Mehta is the direct beneficiary of Rs50 crore of the total fraud amount and has been enjoying it since 2012. The court was also informed that he was the mastermind of the conspiracy.
A case was registered on September 30, 2016 by the CBI after a written complaint filed by a senior SBI official from Thane against M/s Rajput Retail Ltd (M/s. RRL) and its directors Vijay Gupta, Ajay Gupta, Sanjay Gupta and others on the allegations that they conspired with other co-accused and availed term loans on three occasions on the basis of false and fabricated documents.
In its remand application submitted to the court last month, the CBI stated that the probe completed on July 31, 2018, and a chargesheet was filed with a request that further probe related to the role of other bank officers and private persons be kept open and that a supplementary chargesheet would be filed if needed. It said that the matter is pending at the pre-charge stage.
During the course of further investigation, searches were conducted at the addresses of Hareesh Mehta, M/s Rohan Developers Pvt Ltd and M/s The Ruby Mills Ltd.
CBI's allegations
In its remand application, the CBI claimed that SBI sanctioned a term loan of Rs139 crore for the purchase of the 14th and 16th floors, and a part of the 15th floor, in the building namely ‘The Ruby’ and a short-term loan of Rs16 crore for six months to Rajput Retail on Nov 16, 2011. The loan proceeds to the tune of Rs155 crore were received in the account of ‘Ruby Mills’ on Feb 10, 2012.
As per the application, Ajay Gupta of Rajput Retail, Bharat M Shah of Ruby Mills and Hareesh Mehta of Mindset Estates executed a letter of intent on Feb 20, 2012 the floors in the Ruby building.
As per the application, Rohan Developers, through Mehta, took his share of the crime proceeds by making a request to Ruby Mills joint MD for an inter-corporate deposit loan of Rs50 crore for six months at an interest rate of 10%, but neither the principal nor the interest was paid back.
