Firs Put Usha Group Chief In A Spot

In the three first information reports (FIRs) filed on August 1, the Central Bureau of Investigation has said that Group Usha companies Malvika Steels, Usha India and Usha Ispat made a payment of Rs 95.08 crore to companies owned by Suresh Gupta and Sohan Lal Garg for material that wasn't supplied and the money was routed to Group Usha chairman Vinay Rai and others.

A fax sent to Rai seeking his point of view on the matter elicited no response.

As per the FIRs filed by the CBI, Gupta is a resident of Delhi, while Garg is a resident of Ghaziabad near Delhi.

 

In the first FIR, the CBI has said that companies of Gupta and Garg received payments of Rs 26.89 crore and Rs 13.95 crore respectively from Malvika Steels. Malvika Steels is putting up a steel plant at Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. The CBI has said that it is alleged that Rai, Malvika Steels co-chairman Anil Rai and managing director S K Mittal entered into a criminal conspiracy among themselves and with some officers of IFCI, IDBI, LIC and others with a view to cheat the financial institutions and to obtain pecuniary advantage by the public servant and los to the government of India.

In the second FIR, the CBI has said that the companies of Gupta and Garg received payments of Rs 11.50 crore and Rs 33.25 crore respectively in account payee cheques from Usha India Ltd. The company is engaged in the manufacture of electronic equipment and its factory is located at Faridabad near Delhi. In the third FIR, the CBI has said that companies owned by Gupta and Garg received Rs 9.49 crore from Usha Ispat.

The FIRs also detail the debts raised by the companies through rupee term loans, foreign currency loans and non-convertible debentures.