CBI approaches Interpol to locate promoter of Dwarka Das Seth jewellers

The CBI has approached the Interpol seeking to locate Sabhya Seth, the promoter of Delhi-based jeweller Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd, an accused in the alleged Rs 389.85-crore loan fraud involving Oriental Bank of Commerce, officials said today.
The CBI has started "diffusion" notice against Seth, who has not joined the investigation, even as the agency today questioned Reeta Seth, his mother and an accused in the FIR, and his wife Punita (not accused in the FIR), officials said.
They said they were being questioned at a location outside Delhi.
A diffusion notice is a less formal procedure in Interpol system, but is also used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation.

"A diffusion is circulated directly by an NCB (CBI in India's case) to the member countries of their choice, or to the entire Interpol membership and is simultaneously recorded in Interpol Information System," the Interpol website said.
The agency had issued lookout circulars against the directors of Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd, including Reeta Seth, accused in the alleged Rs 389.85-crore loan fraud at Oriental Bank of Commerce, officials said.

The four directors named as accused by the CBI in the case are - Sabhya Seth, Reeta Seth, Krishna Kumar Singh and Ravi Singh, they said.
A lookout circular (LoC) alerts all ports of entry to restrict the movement of the person against whom the notice has been issued and report any such attempt to the issuing agency.

Also, an LoC may seek detention of the accused at the point of entry.
Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd, its subsidiary Dwarka Das Seth SEZ Incorporation and the four directors were booked by the agency based on a complaint by the bank.
Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007 and 2012, which swelled to Rs 389 crore during the period.
It was found by the bank that the company was using letters of credit (LCs) to pay off other creditors against the purchase of gold and other precious stone and transfer gold and funds outside the country using fictitious transactions, the bank complaint, now part of the CBI FIR, alleged.

The company was also engaging in business transactions with non-existent entities, it said.