CBI arrests R.P. Info System directors in Rs 515 cr bank fraud

The CBI on Thursday arrested two directors of Kolkata-based computer manufacturing firm R.P. Info System for allegedly cheating a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 515.15 crore, an official said.

Those arrested have been identified as Shivaji Panja and Kaustav Ray.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed an FIR against the firm and its directors last month following a complaint received from Canara Bank on February 26.

It is alleged that the directors of the company, Panja, Ray and Vinay Bafna, and others cheated Canara Bank and nine other consortium member banks to the tue of Rs 515.15 crore.

The other members of consortium were the State Bank of India, the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, the State Bank of Patiala, the Union Bank of India, the Allahabad Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce, the Central Bank of India, the Punjab National Bank and the Federal Bank.

It is alleged that loans were taken on the basis of false and fabricated documents. The banks also alleged that company manipulated financial statements and did not route sale proceeds through the loan account.

Canara Bank in its complaint, now part of the FIR, has alleged that the company which manufactured computers with brand name Chirag had taken funds from the consortium from time to time from 2012 onwards.

These loans have become NPA, the FIR said.

The CBI had also booked the firm in 2015 for cheating IDBI Bank to the tune of Rs 180 crore.

--IANS

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