Niskalp Took Rs 46 Crore Hit On Carry-Forward Deals Alone

The Tatas have accused former Tata Finance Ltd managing director Dilip S Pendse of embarking upon carry forward transactions between December, 2000 and March, 2001 in DSQ, Global Telesystems, Zee Telefilms and Pentamedia, leading to a loss of around Rs 30 crore in the last quarter of fiscal 2001 itself.

The total loss suffered during the year by the Tata Finance subsidiary Niskalp Investment & Trading Ltd in carry forward transactions was to the tune of Rs 46 crore.

But this may only be the tip of the iceberg. The actual loss suffered by Tata Finance on account of the Pendse affair could be much more.

The company is in the process of assessing the loss and the final figure will be known over the next fortnight. Y Kale, senior partner of AF Ferguson & Co, is conducting a probe into the Pendse affair.

Pendse is accused of cheating, falsification of accounts, forgery and criminal breach of trust in the first information report (No 276/2001, dated August 7) filed with the economic offences wing of the Maharashtra government.

The FIR also alleges that Pendse and the other accused persons (BR Gazdar, AL Shilotri, AG Gaitonde, Milind Desai and PB Karyekar, all former employees of Tata Finance or its subsidiaries) have siphoned off funds for