Indusind Bank, Reliance Cap In Dragnet

The Hindujas-owned IndusInd Bank and Reliance Capital Finance Trust (RCFT) had lent Rs 20 crore each to CRB Capital Markets, according to information available with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Apart from these two, Bank of Baroda (BoB) had lent Rs 2.5 crore and a Jain trust managed by Acharya Tulsi had deposited nearly Rs 12 crore, sources said. BoB is likely to lodge a complaint with CBI for a recovery of its deposits. Senior officials from the bank had contacted CBI in connection with this.

CBI officials however clarified that they wont be investigating the entire CRB scam unless specific complaints are lodged with them. The investigation will now be centred on transactions between CRB and State Bank of India. If the affected banks come forward and provide with information we will look into the matter, a CBI official said. SBI officials are not willing to come forward with the entire details. Now we have registered a case and we are legally entitled to ask for the necessary papers, they said.

 

According to the first information report filed yesterday, CRB had approached the main branch of SBI to grant it facility of encashment of interest warrants and warrants for repayment of the principal amount issued by the company towards repayment of fixed deposits, interest payable, brokerage warrants etc through different branches of SBI at par.

After February 1997, CRB stopped providing the list of refund orders, interest warrants and pre-funding the accounts as required as per the terms and conditions set by SBI. However, the management of the company continued issuing warrants which were encashed through various branches of SBI.

On the involvement of SBI officials, the FIR said: That even the accounts of the company were overdrawn and the company was not complying with the terms and conditions of sanction, yet the officials of SBI main branch in connivance with C R Bhansali did not take necessary steps to protect the interests of the bank and did not issue necessary instructions to different branches of SBI resulting in a total wrongful loss of Rs 57 crore approximately to SBI and corresponding wrongful gain to Bhansali and other unknown persons/employees.

The FIR further alleges that C R Bhansali and other office bearers of CRB Capital Markets had used the above mentioned accounts to siphon funds of SBI in the garb of encashment of interest warrant and refund warrants of principal amount and thereby cheated the SBI to the tune of Rs 57 crore approximately.

Meanwhile the efforts of CBI to trace Bhansali have not yielded any results.