CBI arrests former zonal head of Bank of Maharashtra in Rs836-crore fraud

The agency also arrested a director of Sidhi Vinayak Logistics Limited, Surat

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested a former zonal head of the Bank of Maharashtra and a director of a private logistics company at Surat in connection with an alleged scam of Rs836.29 crore.

The arrested accused are in CBI custody.

Officials said Padmakar Deshpande formerly headed the Pune zone of the bank and Rajkumar Baid was a director of Sidhi Vinayak Logistics Limited, Surat.

CBI officials registered a case against the logistics firm and 10 others, including officials from the bank, on allegations that the bank sanctioned various credit facilities to the company between 2012 and 2014, including working capital limit, term loans and loans to 2,802 drivers of the company under a scheme to purchase trucks.

The alleged loss to the bank was around Rs836.29 crore. It was further alleged that the loans to the drivers were sanctioned without their knowledge by forged documents and also that the company did not utilise the loan proceeds for what they were sanctioned for. These loans were allegedly processed by Deshpande who ignored rules and regulations and violated guidelines for sanctioning the amounts.

Baid was allegedly one of the directors in the company and the authorised signatory to operate its bank account.

“The CBI officers searched the residence of Deshpande and recovered electronic gadgets, LIC policies, two bank locker keys and some documents” said the CBI official.

Both the accused were produced in court on Friday and remanded in custody of the central agency.