Bhansalis Counsel Points Fingers At State Bank

CRB Capital Markets chairman Chain Roop Bhansali Bhansalis counsel, Indira Bansal, yesterday told the court that her client is not opposing the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) demand for police custody. My request is that the CBI should investigate the involvement of SBI officials, she said.

The counsel told the court that no fraud has been committed since there has been no wrongful gain or loss to anyone.

The counsel said that it is only the depositors who are aggrieved and not the SBI. She said that Bhansali had offered SBI more than Rs 60 crore worth securities which includes debtors, land and assets. In March 1997, Bhansalis account with SBI was overdrawn. The bank wrote to Bhansali to regularise the account. In response to the SBI request, Bhansali offered the assets of various companies worth Rs 47 crore, the counsel said.

 

SBI has treated Bhansalis account as a regular account and not a fixed deposit with a pre-deposit, the counsel said.

Bansal further argued that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) order is not related to fraud and it related only to technical irregularities. The RBI withdrew the banking licence and this was published in the newspapers in the form of public notice on April 9, she said.

Bhansalis counsel argued that the money is intact in the form of cheques. CRB has filed 151 cases of cheque bouncing against various parties. Original cheques amounting to crores of rupee are in the record of the company which are recoverable to the extent of Rs 50 crore, the counsel charged.

She told the court that Bhansali did not flee the country, but went for a holiday to Hong Kong after settling the issues with SBI officials.

When Bhansali left, there was not a whisper of any fraud. He did not run away, and moreover, he returned on his own, the counsel said.

Sebi gets 41 complaints

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has received 41 complaints from investors between May 15 and May 30 against CRB Capital Markets. According to the regulator, these relate to type I-IV complaints, ranging from non-receipt of refund order/allotment letters and non-receipt of debenture certificate, interest on debentures, redemption amount to interest on delayed payment of interest on debentures. CRB Capital features in the list of top 20 companies against which maximum complaints were received during the fortnight ending May 31.