CBI grills former BoB chief, 5 others in Rotomac case

The CBI has questioned six former senior officials of Bank of Baroda, including its former chairman-cummanaging director (CMD) M D Mallya, in connection with Rs 2,919-crore alleged loan fraud by Rotomac, officials said here.

Besides Mallya, former executive directors V Santhanaraman and R K Bakshi were among those questioned by the agency, they said.

The owner of Rotomac Global, Vikram Kothari, was arrested by the CBI and was now in judicial custody.

The case relates bank loans worth Rs 2,919 crore from 2008 onwards to Rotomac Global by a consortium of seven nationalised banks, the CBI FIR has alleged.

The amount swelled to Rs 3,695 crore, including the accrued interest, because of repeated defaults on payment, the officials said.

The CBI had initiated the action on the complaint of Bank of Baroda, which a member of consortium led by Bank of India, that had approached the agency fearing that Kothari might flee the country like jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

The principal exposure of the banks regarding the loan is: Bank of India Rs 754.77 crore, Bank of Baroda Rs 456.63 crore, Overseas Bank of India Rs 771.07 crore, Union Bank of India Rs 458.95 crore, Allahabad Bank Rs 330.68 crore, Bank of Maharashtra 49.82 crore and Oriental Bank of Commerce Rs 97.47 crore, the officials said.

Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana, and son Rahul were named in the FIR, they said.