A Delhi-based business couple -- Virkaran Awasthy (51) and Ritika Awasthy (49) -- wanted in multiple cases of financial fraud in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, was recently arrested in London after three years of efforts by the UP Economic Offence Wing (EOW) to extradite them to India and bring them to justice, said police officials.
They were arrested in connection with a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust registered against them in Bulandshahr district of UP in October 2015. The case was transferred to UP EOW on March 22, 2016 and the charge sheet was filed on October 3, 2017.
Confirming the arrest, director general (DG) of UP EOW, Rajendra Pal Singh, said, “The counsel of the Government of India in London informed the EOW about the arrest on October 4. The (Westminster) court in London has asked the EOW about details like fixing which jail the couple would be lodged at and the basic facilities they would be provided, as per the extradition policy, before allowing them to be brought to India.”
He said the state government had finalised Ghaziabad jail for lodging the couple after their extradition.
{{/usCountry}}He said the state government had finalised Ghaziabad jail for lodging the couple after their extradition.
{{/usCountry}}“Answers to all the queries sought by the court were sent on Friday. Now, we hope the couple will be extradited in the near future through the country’s nodal agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and the ministry of home affairs,” the DG said.
Sharing details about the case registered against the duo in UP, he said, “The couple’s firm -- Bush Foods Overseas Private Limited -- purchased wheat and paddy from a Bulandhshahr ‘aarhtiya’ (grains wholesaler) Lokendra Singh between 2013 and 2015, but did not pay the ₹1.76 crore due to Singh’s firm Saurabh & Sons. Lokendra Singh lodged an FIR against the couple and their firm under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code on October 20, 2015.”
The DG said that the couple managed to get conditional stay to their arrest from the Allahabad high Court in the case on November 11, 2015. “The court asked them to deposit their passports and not leave the country. The couple then approached the Supreme Court on January 31, 2016, seeking permission to travel to London for Virkaran’s treatment. The court allowed them to go for two months on personal sureties of ₹86 lakh. This was later extended for two more months -- till May 31, 2016,” he said.
When the couple did not return, the court issued stern directives regarding the their extradition and seized the sureties.
“The EOW has been trying to extradite the couple to India since December 2016, after seeking their arrest warrant from the chief judicial magistrate court of Bulandshahr. A red corner notice was also issued for their arrest,” said the DG.
Earlier, on July 3, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had attached assets worth ₹7.16 crore belonging to Virkaran Awasthy and Sai Chandrasekhar, an employee of Bush Foods Overseas Private Ltd, in a bank fraud case in Delhi. The ED initiated the action on the basis of an FIR filed by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi police against the accused.
“Probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act reveals that the financial statements of their company were manipulated for domestic sales. Bogus transactions were carried out to avail of cash credit facility. At the same time, stock/inventory of rice in their book of accounts was also inflated,” said the DG.