CBI issues look out circular against promoters & directors of Kanishk Gold

The CBI on Thursday issued a look out circular against promoters and directors of Kanishk Gold Pvt Ltd, accused in an alleged loan fraud of Rs 8.24 billion, to prevent them from leaving the country, officials said.

They said the agency also questioned Bhoopesh Jain and Neeta Jain, the directors of the company, in connection with the fraud at the agency's office in Bengaluru.

The CBI has registered a case of an alleged loan fraud of Rs 8.24 billion on a consortium of 14 banks led by the State Bank of India and carried out searches on Wednesday, officials said.

The agency has booked the company -- Kanishk Gold Pvt Ltd, its promoter Director Bhoopesh Kumar Jain, Director Neeta Jain, Tejraj Achha, Ajay Kumar Jain and Sumit Kedia besides unidentified public servants.

The CBI carried out searches at the official and residential premises of the promoters of Kanishk Gold Pvt Ltd on Wednesday as it launched a probe in the loan fraud case, the officials said.

The company engaged in manufacturing gold jewellery which was marketed under the brand name 'Krizz' which were sold through distributors till 2014. But in 2015 it changed its business model to B2B (business-to-business) and started supplying to large retail jewellers, the SBI said in a complaint to the CBI.

The loan accounts of the company were taken over by the SBI from the ICICI in 2008, while its banking arrangement was converted into a multiple banking system in March 2011, it said.

The SBI alleged that the "fraud" is to the tune of Rs 8.24 billion, but the security available with it to cover the "loss" is only around Rs 1.56 billion.