New Delhi, July 4 (IANS). In a major action in the investigation of the alleged bank fraud case involving Reliance ADA Group, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Amit Bapna, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance Capital Limited. CBI gave this information on Saturday.
According to the CBI, Amit Bapna was the Chief Financial Officer at Reliance Capital Limited from August 2014 to December 2019 and was among the key decision makers in the company’s financial matters.
The investigating agency alleges that Bapna sanctioned and facilitated loans to intermediary and shell (conduit) companies despite knowing it, which was contrary to the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the sanction conditions of loans taken from public sector banks.
According to the CBI, the investigation has also revealed that the amount borrowed from banks by Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was routed through these intermediary companies to various companies of the Reliance ADA group, including Reliance Capital Limited, Reliance Infrastructure Limited and Reliance Power Limited. This caused wrongful loss to the lending banks, while the accused and related entities benefited unfairly.
CBI said Amit Bapna was already in judicial custody in another case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and was lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
In the present case, the CBI obtained a production warrant from the special CBI court in Mumbai, produced him in the court and formally arrested him on July 4. The court has sent the accused to four days’ CBI custody for questioning.
The CBI has so far registered seven FIRs against Reliance Communications Ltd, Reliance Home Finance Ltd, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd and Reliance Telecom Ltd in cases related to Reliance ADA Group, based on complaints by various public sector banks and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The Supreme Court is monitoring these cases.
On May 29, the agency had filed the first charge sheet in the Reliance Communications case against a total of 16 accused, including the company, five of its senior officials and 10 bank officials.
According to CBI, with the arrest of Amit Bapna, six accused have been arrested so far in cases related to Reliance ADA Group. The agency said that further investigation into the matter is underway.
–IANS
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