CBI books ex-J&K finance minister’s son Hilal Rather in ₹177-crore bank fraud case

NEWDELHI: The CBI has taken over probe against Hilal Rather, the son of National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather, in a ₹177 crore bank fraud case, officials said on Thursday.

The agency has booked Hilal, being a partner of the beneficiary firm, and unidentified officials of

J&K Bank in the case, they said.

The case which was probed by the anti-corruption branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police was handed over to the CBI because of “international ramifications” of the conspiracy of loan funds diversion.

“The possibility of stashing of funds and diversion of funds to subversive elements cannot be ruled out,” the ACB said in one of the reasons for handing over the probe to the central agency.

It is alleged that Hilal Rather, presently in custody, had taken a loan from Jammu and Kashmir Bank for his ambitious township project, known as Paradise Avenue, at Narwal Bala in Jammu in 2012, when his father was the finance minister of the erstwhile state, they said.

It is alleged that the loan was sanctioned without submitting any collateral and the money was diverted from the bank account, they said. The account had turned non-performing asset in 2017, they said.

The ACB had concluded in its report, now part of the FIR, that funds worth over ₹26 crore were diverted from the account for the purchase of expensive gift items, holidays abroad and hosting shows of TV and film celebrities, they said.

The funds diverted to the USA were allegedly used to purchase property worth USD 5.89 lakh there, it said.