The CBI has booked Janta Glass Limited, its directors and others for allegedly causing wrongful loss of about ₹75 crore to the UCO Bank by diversion of funds raised through loans.
The company has its office in Mumbai and factory premises in Gujarat’s Vadodara. Among the 10 accused are chairman Jayantilal Mehta, managing director Umesh Mehta and joint managing director Niraj Mehta, besides three other companies.
It is alleged that the company, its directors, loan guarantors and unknown bank officials cheated the UCO Bank’s Nariman Point branch in Mumbai. They fraudulently opened accounts in the name of vendors, forged transactions with related parties, created false documents and misrepresented sales and purchases.
According to the FIR, the company’s loan account had started showing signs of stress since 2006, when it was restructured. However, things did not improve. Subsequently, it was declared a non-performing asset in March 2011 and transferred to the asset management branch. The outstanding as on March 31, 2020 was ₹74.91 crore.
The bank managed to recover about ₹20 crore through recovery proceedings and sale of pledged assets. The loan account was declared a fraud and reported to the RBI in April 2016.
A forensic audit in May 2017 revealed that using the PAN card details of Mr. Umesh Mehta, accounts were opened in the name of various Vadodara-based vendors. Funds were transferred in these accounts and then to J. Foundation, J. Traders and other entities, which were held by the same promoter family group. This raised suspicion about diversion.
