Reebok scam accused has no bail money

Despite getting bail in the multi-crore Reebok scam a week ago, one of the prime accused, Vishnu Bhagat, continues to be in jail as he has reportedly failed to submit two surety bonds worth Rs 10 crore each. Leena Dhankhar reports.

Despite getting bail in the multi-crore Reebok scam a week ago, one of the prime accused, Vishnu Bhagat, continues to be in jail as he has reportedly failed to submit two surety bonds worth Rs 10 crore each.

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The other prime accused, former Reebok India managing director Subhinder Singh Prem, however, managed his release just two days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted the duo bail on July 17 last.

The high court had asked them to furnish personal bonds with two sureties of Rs 10 crore each.

According to Bhondsi jail sources, Bhagat, the former chief operating officer of Reebok India, has been lodged in jail for nearly 10 months now and his family is struggling to manage the surety amount.

“He is getting depressed as all the other accused are out on bail,” said the source.

The duo was arrested on September 19 last on charges of fudging the company accounts and operating secret warehouses causing heavy losses to the firm.

Bhagat and Prem are facing trial on charges under Indian penal Code (IPC) sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 477A (falsification of accounts) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Three other accused, Prashant Bhatnagar, the warehouse in-charge of the Reebok-availed GM Logistics; Sanjeev Mishra, Reebok’s service provider and Surakshit Bhat, a company sales manager, will face trial under IPC Section 120 B only.

The remaining six accused in the case will be tried under IPC sections 477A and 120B. Adidas AG, of which Reebok India is a subsidiary, had filed an FIR against Prem and Bhagat with the Gurgaon police on May 21, 2012.