Transit remand for Rotomac owner Kothari, son; I-T freezes 12 bank a/cs

NEW DELHI: A CBI court on Friday sent Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul to one-day transit remand while the Income Tax Department froze 12 bank accounts of the group and issued six prosecution against the businessman in connection with the Rs3,695 crore loan default.

CBI produces Rotomac’s Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul at Patiala House Courts in New Delhi. PTI

New Delhi, February 23

A CBI court on Friday sent Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul to one-day transit remand while the Income Tax Department froze 12 bank accounts of the group and issued six prosecution against the businessman in connection with the Rs3,695 crore loan default.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal at the Patiala House Courts passed an order for a day's remand after the CBI sought a two-day remand to take the father and son to Lucknow.

The duo will be produced before the court concerned in Lucknow on Saturday.

Kothari and his son were arrested on Thursday for alleged default on loan repayment after their four-day consecutive questioning since the CBI filed the case against them and raided their residential and office premises in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur.

Defence advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey had raised objections to the jurisdiction of the court, saying the accused should be produced before a sessions court and not before a magisterial court. The court then reserved its order till 2 pm.

Meanwhile, an Income Tax official said over 12 more bank accounts of the Rotomac Group Pvt Ltd have been attached in addition to the 14 bank accounts attached earlier and that six prosecutions have been sanctioned against Kothari.

The agency filed the FIR on Sunday after getting a complaint against Kothari, his wife Sadhana and son Rahul, from the Bank of Baroda. Kothari is the Chairman and Managing Director of Rotomac while his wife and son are Directors.

A consortium of seven banks had extended loans worth Rs2,919 crore to Rotomac Global Pvt Limited 2008 onwards, according to a CBI FIR. The principal exposure of the banks regarding the loan is Bank of India Rs754.77 crore, Bank of Baroda Rs456.63 crore, Overseas Bank of India Rs771.07 crore, Union Bank of India Rs458.95 crore, Allahabad Bank Rs330.68 crore, Bank of Maharashtra Rs49.82 crore and Oriental Bank of Commerce Rs97.47 crore, the agency has said, the FIR said. — IANS