Rotomac owner case: CBI seeks details of bank officials

After taking 11-day remand of Rotomac Global Pvt Ltd owner Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul Kothari, the CBI is now seeking details from Banks about officials and employees posted in their Kanpur branches between 2008 and 2015 in connection with Rs 3695 banking fraud committed by the Kotharis.

A senior CBI officer claimed that during interrogation, Vikram Kothari has revealed names of many bank officials who had helped in obtaining loans during this period. “Many of these officials have either been transferred or retired since then,” said official.

The investigative agency has sought their names and details of their present locations and addresses so that notices are issued for their interrogation to verify information provided by the Kotharis and check their roles to nail them in the banking fraud.

The investigative agency has also sought names and details of internal auditors and Chartered Accounts of the seven banks to check how the huge loan amount to Kotharis was passed and, subsequently, declared non-performing assets (NPA) ignoring banking rules.

The CBI Special Court in Lucknow had given an 11-day remand of Vikram Kothari and his son Rahu Kothari to the investigative agency for further interrogation on Saturday. They were arrested in Delhi and were brought to Lucknow on Friday on one-day transit remand.  

Earlier, the CBI had conducted raids on the residence, farmhouse, offices and factory of Kotharis in Kanpur after receiving a formal complaint from the Bano of Baroda officials.  The investigative agency had registered a case against Vikram, his son, wife Sadhana Kothari, two directors of his company and unidentified bank officials and staff.

The Kotharis had taken huge loans from a consortium of seven banks, including the Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank etc, by fraudulent means and had become a willful defaulter. A case is already pending against the Kotharis at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Earlier, there were media reports that Vikram Kothari too has escaped like Nirav Modi. But Vikram had surfaced in Kanpur and denied those reports. He had claimed that he was not going to run away and would pay off all bank loans by selling off his properties.