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CID to probe Auto Riders scam
Additional Director General of Maharashtra CID will conduct a probe into Auto Riders Finance scam of 1990s, the Bombay High Court was told.
Additional Director General of Maharashtra CID will conduct a probe into Auto Riders Finance scam of 1990s, the Bombay High Court was told.
The probe must get over within six months, the high court said.
During the last hearing of the case, the court had asked state DGP S.S. Virk to decide which agency was fit to probe the matter. The public prosecutor informed the court about the decision to entrust the CID with the inquiry.
Auto Riders, an automobile company, allegedly misused Rs 126 crore it had received as loans from Unit Trust of India and a few banks between 1993 and 1999. The company’s directors allegedly diverted the money for buying real estate.
The company was in the business of leasing luxury cars and money was supposed to be used for buying vehicles.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was once the chairman and non-executive director of the company and his name figured in the first complaint filed by the UTI in a magistrate’s court.
Later, UTI requested the magistrate’s court to drop Patel’s and two other directors’ names, saying they were not concerned with day-to-day working of the company.
Two petitions were filed in the high court, seeking CBI probe into the scam. As the matter is now with the CID, the high court on Thursday disposed of the petitions.
