AgustaWestland case accused faces new CBI FIR in bank fraud

Lawyer Gautam Khaitan, an accused in AgustaWestland case, and five others have been booked by the CBI in a new Rs 28.73 crore bank loan default case.
The case has been registered on the complaint of Canara Bank against IC Textiles, its directors Gautam Khaitan, Sunil Kumar Jain, Ravinder Singh, Pramod Jain and guarantor Anil Kumar Jain.
Khaitan is an accused in the FIR registered with regards to AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal scam.
The bank has alleged in its complaint, now part of the FIR, that the Gujarat-based company was availing of loan benefits since 1996, and also from IFCI and IDBI Bank.

The unit had become sick and registered with Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 2004.
The accounts was classified as non performing assets (NPA) in the books of Canara bank in 2004, it said.

A revival package was given to the company which saw improvement in the company's financials but it could not perform as per the expectation and failed to honour the commitment to secured lenders. It shut down its plant from November 2007 with liabilities of Rs 28.72 crore.
"As per the audited balance sheet at March 31, 2008 there was drastic reduction in the value of inventory and book debts as compared to value of inventory and book debts furnished in last stock statement as on September 30, 2007," it said.

It alleged the company committed breach of trust by selling away the stocks which were hypothecated to bank without its knowledge.
The bank alleged that the company did not credit the sale proceeds to bank and did not allow bank officials to inspect the stock and plant machiney with an intention to conceal the fraud committed by them.
The complaint said that false information was declared in the financial statements submitted to the bank, filed concocted statements, submitted fake documents and caused the loss of Rs 28.73 crore plus interest.
Based on the complaint the agency has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption against the company and its director besides unidentified public servants.