The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Gurpal Singh, Deputy General Manager in Simbhaoli Sugars Limited and other top officials for the alleged bank fraud case. Singh is son in law of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder.
According to the FIR filed by the CBI, two loans, one of Rs. 97.85 crore which was declared fraud in 2015 and another loan of Rs. 109 crore which the company has defaulted on payment, from Oriental Bank of Commerce is under probe. The second loan was reportedly taken to repay the previous loan.
A loan amounting to Rs 148.60 crore was sanctioned to the company in 2011 for financing individual, Joint Liability Groups, and Self-Help Groups under the tie-up arrangement under the RBI Scheme to 5,762 sugarcane farmers supplying sugar produce to said private company during the period from 25 January to 13 March 2012. It has been alleged that these funds were diverted for personal use. On non-repayment of the loan, the loan was converted into a non-performing asset (NPA) on 31st March 2015 and later declared as an alleged fraud. The second loan of Rs. 110 crore was sanctioned by the bank to Simbhaoli Sugars on 28th January 2015 to pay the previous outstanding loan of Rs. 97.85 crore, which was declared NPA on 29th November 2016, few days after demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes.
Simbhaoli Sugars Limited is among the largest sugar mills in the country. The FIR filed by the CBI has named company’s Chairman and Managing Director Gurmit Singh Mann, Deputy Managing Director Gurpal Singh, Chief Executive Officer, GSC Rao, Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Tapriya, and Executive Director Gursimran Kaur Mann. Five other non-executive directors have also been named. These officials have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under Prevention of Corruption Act for causing loss to the bank.
