CBI & ED probe R 3,695 cr scam involving Rotomac

Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari faced the heat of central agencies after the CBI as well as the ED registered separate cases against him and his company for allegedly defrauding of Rs 3,695 crore from seven banks from 2008.

The CBI registered a case after receiving a complaint from Bank of Baroda against Kanpur-based Rotomac Global Pvt Limited, its director Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana Kothari, and son Rahul Kothari and unidentified bank officials.

Initially, the alleged scam was pegged at Rs 800 crore but after the CBI started to probe into the accounts of the company, it was found that the company had allegedly taken loans from Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.

The CBI alleged that the accused had cheated a consortium of seven banks by siphoning off bank loans to the tune Rs 2,919 crore.

The total outstanding amount along with interest and liabilities for the company were pegged at Rs 3,695 crore, the CBI alleged.

Immediately after registering the case, the CBI carried out searches at three locations in Kanpur which included Kothari’s residence and office premises.

While making clear that no arrests have taken place in the case so far, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said the CBI was examining Kothari, his wife and son.

According to the CBI officials, the company allegedly used two modus operandi for siphoning off the loans secured from a consortium of banks from 2008 onwards.

Credit sanctioned and loan disbursed to the company was utilised for the purposes, other than executing export orders.

In other cases, money disbursed by the banks for procurement of goods for export was not utilised, and no export order was executed ever.

In a parallel action, the Enforcement Directorate also registered a case of alleged money laundering against Rotomac pens’ promoters.

The ED also named promoter of Rotomac pens, Vikram Kothari, and his family members in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 3,695 crore.

The agency registered the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after studying the CBI FIR that was registered on Sunday.

The ED, the officials said, would probe if the funds obtained through the alleged fraud were laundered and if the proceeds of the crime were subsequently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.

Vikram Kothari has denied any wrongdoing. “Yes, I took a loan from the bank, but it’s wrong information that I haven’t paid,” he said.