CBI examines MD of rice company in fraud case

CBI today examined Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director, of REI Agro against which the agency has registered a case of allegedly cheating 15 nationalised banks to the tune of over Rs 3800 crore.
CBI sources said it is suspected that the company diverted loans taken for expanding business to other avenues like sponsorship of an IPL team among others following which they were unable to repay it back.
CBI has registered a case of alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and falsification of documents against the company and its directors - Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, N K Gupta and Krishna Daya Ghosh.

"These banks have been allegedly defrauded by the said company to the extent of Rs 3,814.39 crores (approx), 2013 onwards," CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said.
However, the company did not comment on the issue.
The sources said Sandeep Jhunjhunwala was called at the agency headquarters today and was grilled for nearly five hours.

They said the company, which sells Basmati rice under the brand name Raindrops, had allegedly created a web of shell companies to facilitate fraudulent transactions related to rice trading, and defrauded banks in India and abroad.
The company was formed in 1994 and for some period remained listed on London Stock Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange. It ran 400 super stores across India with the brand name of 6Ten.

In Singapore, financial service provider Credit Suisse has sued the company for 80 million dollars, they said.
During the searches yesterday, CBI had seized 10 hard disks among other things, which are believed to carry vital information about company's operations.