Rs 414 cr loan default, lookout circular: Here’s what you need to know about SBI complaint

Basmati rice exporters Ram Dev International Ltd. fled the country after

The owners of a Delhi-based basmati exporter have fled the country with more than Rs 400 crore in unpaid loans borrowed from the State Bank of India (SBI) and five other banks.

People queue outside a SBI branch in Jahangirpuri during nationwide lockdown. A Basmati rice exporter cheated a consortium of six banks amounting to Rs 414 crore. SBI has lodged a complaint with the CBI. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

SBI has filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Ram Dev International Limited.

Here is what you need to know:

• CBI had registered a case on April 28 naming the owners of Ram Dev International—Suresh Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Sangita—and Look Out Circulars (LOCs) have been issued against them.

• The exposure of banks was at Rs 414 crore—Rs 173 crore from SBI, Canara Bank Rs 76 crore, Union Bank of India Rs 64 crore, Central Bank of India Rs 51 crore, Corporation Bank Rs 36 crore and IDBI Bank Rs 12 crore.

• The company’s loans were classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2016.

• Owners of Ram Dev International Limited are said to be missing since 2016 when an inspection was carried out by SBI.

• The bank filed a complaint with CBI on February 25, 2020, after over a year of account becoming NPA.

• According to the complaint, the borrowers had removed entire machinery from old plant and fudged the balance sheets in order to unlawfully gain at the cost of banks’ funds.

• A special audit revealed that the borrowers falsified the accounts, fudged the balance sheet and unauthorisedly removed the plant and machinery in order to gain unlawfully at the cost of bank funds.

• The six banks conducted a joint inspection of properties in August and October 2016, nearly seven to nine months later, only to find security guards from Haryana Police deployed there.

• According to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order in 2018, it was informed that the promoters have fled to Dubai.

• The central probe agency did not carry out any searches in the matter because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

• The agency will start the process of summoning the accused and in case they do not join the investigation, appropriate legal action will be initiated.

• The company is engaged in export of basmati rice to the West Asian and European countries.

• SBI has said in its complaint said that it had three rice milling plants and eight sorting and grading units in Haryana’s Karnal district with offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trading purposes.

(With agency inputs)