Chanda Kochhar, 10 others booked for ‘cheating’ tomato paste company

According to the FIR, lodged by Shammi Ahluwalia, Director of P & R Overseas Pvt Limited (Tomato Magic), the accused allegedly conspired to present a 'Letter of Credit' (LoC) from a Foreign Bank as a genuine document.

New Delhi: Former ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar is yet again at the centre of a legal storm with a new case being registered against her in the national capital, accusing Kochhar and ten others of cheating a tomato paste company, leading to a staggering loss of Rs 27 crores.

The case, dating back to 2009, recently came to the limelight after the Patiala House Court on December 9 ordered the Delhi Police to initiate an investigation. Subsequently, the Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police registered an FIR on December 20, citing allegations of cheating and criminal conspiracy. Those named in the FIR include Chanda Kochhar, Sandeep Bakshi (CEO & MD ICICI Bank), Vijay Zagade (ex-manager ICICI Bank), unnamed officials of ICICI Bank’s Global Trade Services unit in Mumbai, Atul Kumar Goel (MD & CEO Punjab National Bank), K.K. Bordia (ex-GM Oriental Bank of Commerce), Akhila Sinha (AGM PNB & the then Branch Head of OBC), Manoj Saxena (AGM PNB & the then Branch Head of OBC), and K.K. Bhatia (ex-Chief Manager at OBC).

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According to the FIR, lodged by Shammi Ahluwalia, Director of P & R Overseas Pvt Limited (Tomato Magic), the accused allegedly conspired to present a ‘Letter of Credit’ (LoC) from a Foreign Bank as a genuine document. The LoC, crucial for an export order of tomato paste, was purportedly issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) but was later revealed to be from a local Russian bank named RBS Alliance, known for its dubious reputation.