Ludhiana-based Rama Krishna Knitters has been booked by CBI for allegedly cheating a consortium of four banks to the tune of Rs. 161.91 crore.
The case has been registered on a complaint lodged by the Punjab National Bank on behalf of the lenders, alleging that the fraud was committed from August 2010 to March 2016.
As per media reports, amongst the accused persons named in the FIR are Shallu Gupta and Narinder Chugh.
Narinder Chugh was also booked by police just a few months back in a case of Rs. 13.48 crore fraud in GST refund.
With a production capacity of 50,000 pieces per day, the company used to export apparels to South American countries, the US and UAE.
In 2010, the company through its directors approached the Punjab National Bank for credit facilities to expand its business. Under the consortium arrangement, it was sanctioned loans.
In November, 2005, after the death of its then MD, another person took over. The lenders agreed for restructuring the credit facilities. However, the accused persons did not comply with the conditions.
The account was classified as non-performing asset in March 2016.
A forensic analysis revealed several financial irregularities. As it turned out, funds were transferred to several entities before April 2013 for non-business purposes. Advances to the tune of Rs. 38.71 crore were received from different customers/parties to whom no sale had been made. Most of these firms also figured in the “outstanding receivables” list but the funds in question were not adjusted against the outstanding amount.
The banks alleged that this was done to inflate the “outstanding receivables” position to ensure higher drawing power.
