PIL in SC alleges Rs 1,500 crore banking fraud; seeks court-monitored probe
PIL seeks direction to the Centre to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to investigate the corporate and banking fraud facilitated by the asset reconstruction companies
A PIL in the Supreme Court on Monday sought a court-monitored probe into alleged banking frauds involving asset reconstruction companies, public sector banks and a Noida-based infrastructure firm.
Filed by Muzaffarnagar-based Prateeksha and two others, the PIL sought a direction to the Centre “to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee, including officers of the RBI, SEBI, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), ED and the CBI, to investigate the corporate and banking fraud facilitated by the asset reconstruction companies (ARCs)”.
As an alternate prayer, it sought a “direction to the ED, SFIO and CBI to investigate suspicious transactions identified in an Ernst & Young forensic audit report” into the affairs of the infrastructure firm and the ARC.
The infrastructure firm obtained loans worth approximately Rs 912 crore from a consortium of seven banks led by the State Bank of India between 2012 and 2015, the PIL alleged.
A forensic audit conducted in 2018 found evidence suggesting that more than Rs 902 crore had been diverted through shell companies, non-existent vendors, undisclosed bank accounts and suspected fraudulent transactions, it alleged, seeking a probe into the alleged largest banking fraud facilitated by the ARCs.
