Rotomac fraud case: CBI files charges against Kothari, son
NEWDELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed charges against Rotomac Pens’ promoter Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul for defaulting on loans worth ₹3,695 crore taken from nationalised banks.
“The case was registered on February 18 and Vikram and Rahul Kothari were arrested on February 22 and are at present in judicial custody,” CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said. “The charge sheet was filed in Lucknow on Monday. In today’s (Monday) charge sheet, only a portion of Bank of Baroda’s loan to the tune of ₹456.63 crore has been investigated. Further investigation is continuing and will come as a supplementary charge sheet.”
Another person familiar with the charge sheet said on condition of anonymity that it names “Rotomac Global Pvt. Ltd, Vikram Kothari (chairman and managing director of Rotomac Global Pvt. Ltd), Rahul Kothari (director of Rotomac), S K Upadhyay (then Agm/branch head of Bank of Baroda, IBB branch, Kanpur), Om Prakash Kapoor (then senior manager/forex in-charge of Bank of Baroda, IBB branch, Kanpur), Shashi Bishwas (then credit officer, Bank of Baroda, IBB branch, Kanpur)”.
The accused were booked for “misutilisation and diversion of funds”, the person said.
CBI said in the FIR that Rotomac had cheated a consortium of seven banks by siphoning off bank loans. Including interest, the amount comes to ₹3,695 crore.
Of this, the CBI FIR revealed that Rotomac owed ₹754.77 crore to Bank of India, ₹456.63 crore to Bank of Baroda, ₹771.07 crore to Indian Overseas Bank, ₹458.95 crore to United Bank of India, ₹330.68 crore to Allahabad Bank, ₹49.82 crore to Bank of Maharashtra and ₹97.47 crore to Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Calls and emails to the Rotomac group office in Kanpur and emails sent to Bank of Baroda, seeking a response, were not answered.
Separately, the enforcement directorate Monday attached jeweller Nirav Modi’s bank accounts and properties worth ₹171.26 crore, in the probe into the Punjab National Bank fraud case.