Court closes ₹67 cr loan fraud case against BJP leader, his firm and co-directors

According to the CBI complaint, the private company had obtained a ₹60 crore credit facility from Bank of India for export purposes, but failed repay any loans

MUMBAI: A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Friday closed a money laundering case against a private company, its promoter and BJP leader Mohit Kamboj, and several other directors. The case was linked to an alleged ₹67.22 crore loan default.

Mumbai, Sep 24, 2015 - Baba Ramdev and Sanjay Dutt with wife Manyata dutt visits ganpati darshan at BJP leader Mohit Kamboj residence - Freelance Photo by Yogen Shah (Yogen Shah)

Special judge RB Rote accepted the closure report filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closed the main offence on which the money laundering case was based. The CBI case had been registered following a complaint by the Bank of India, which accused the private company, Bagla Overseas Private Limited, and its promoters and directors of causing a loss of ₹67.22 crore to the bank.

The CBI had registered an FIR on June 12, 2020, against Mohit Kamboj, managing director of Bagla Overseas, earlier known as Avyaan Overseas Pvt Ltd, and its directors Jitendra Gulshan Kapoor, late Naresh Madanji Kapoor, Siddhant R Bagla, and Irtesh Mishra. The FIR also named KBJ Hotels Goa Pvt Ltd and some unknown bank officials.

According to the CBI complaint, Avyaan had obtained a ₹60 crore credit facility from Bank of India for export purposes. This meant the bank would cover expenses such as raw materials, manufacturing, and packing, and ensure the company had enough money until the buyer bought the product being sold. However, the company allegedly did not route its transactions through the bank, and instead, it raised bills on its sister companies in India and abroad.

The funds were allegedly diverted to buy properties in the names of family members. The export proceeds were never paid back and the loan account turned into a non-performing asset (NPA) resulting in a total loss of ₹67.22 crore. The complaint also alleged that the bank’s recommending authority accepted a Goa property as collateral, even though its market value was only ₹12.51 crore.

Based on the CBI’s FIR, the ED began a money laundering investigation in June 2020. In 2023, however, Bank of India accepted the firm’s offer of ₹30 crore as a one-time settlement and issued a no-objection certificate for closing the case. Following this, the CBI filed a closure report in May 2023, which was accepted by a special CBI court a month later, bringing the main case to an end.

After the CBI case was closed, the ED approached the special PMLA court seeking closure of the money laundering case. The agency said it could not continue the prosecution in the absence of the main offence.

On January 16, special judge RB Rote accepted the ED’s closure report, noting that since the CBI court had accepted the closure of the main offence, the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) could not be sustained. “Since the closure report filed by CBI, EOB in respect of the predicate offence has been accepted by the Special Court, the continuation of the ECIR is not maintainable,” the judge said, adding that it was therefore necessary to close the ECIR.