The Central Vigilance Commission has unearthed a large scale fraud committed by a private firm by allegedly misusing Rs 1,100 crore loan taken from different nationalised banks and wrongly claiming its end-use. CVC officials said the firm was taking loans from various banks with the stipulations that it will be used by farmers of different states for growing and supplying castor seeds. During a detailed scrutiny,the Chief Vigilance Officer of Bank of Maharashtra noticed irregularity and found that the firm has perpetrated an alleged fraud of Rs 50 crore. "The matter was brought to the notice of other banks and the Commission which found that the total amount involved in the whole case is Rs 1,100 crore," a CVC official said. He said that a consortium of nine banks have lent to the firm. "The loan amount has been siphoned off through Village Level Aggregators appointed by the company. The account has become Non-Performing Asset and has been declared as fraud," the official said refusing to divulge further information. The Commission advised the banks to ensure that staff accountability be fixed in the case and has asked them to get the case registered with CBI. "The CBI has been directed to register the case and investigate the matter," he said. An email query on the matter sent to Bank of Maharashtra and other banks did not yield any response. "It is a serious fraud. The firm has wrongly claimed that the loan amount was being used by the farmers. We are awaiting CBI's preliminary enquiry report on the matter," the official added.
