PIL in SC seeks probe into alleged Rs 912-Crore banking fraud involving ARCs

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation into alleged banking fraud involving asset reconstruction companies, banks, and a Noida-based firm. It cites suspected diversion of over ₹900 crore and demands a multi-agency probe

New Delhi: A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking a court-monitored probe into alleged banking frauds involving asset reconstruction companies, public sector banks and a Noida-based infrastructure firm.

The PIL has sought a direction to the Centre “to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee including officers of the RBI, SEBI, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), ED and the CBI to investigate the corporate and banking fraud facilitated by the asset reconstruction companies (ARCs)”.

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The plea, filed through lawyers Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Ashwani Kumar Dubey, as an alternate prayer, has sought a “direction to the ED, SFIO and CBI to investigate suspicious transactions identified in an Ernst & Young forensic audit report” into the affairs of the infrastructure firm and the ARC.

According to the PIL, the infrastructure firm obtained loans worth approximately Rs 912 crore from a consortium of seven banks led by the State Bank of India between 2012 and 2015.

It alleged that a forensic audit conducted in 2018 found evidence suggesting that more than Rs 902 crore had been diverted through shell companies, non-existent vendors, undisclosed bank accounts and suspected fraudulent transactions.

The plea, filed by Muzaffarnagar-based Prateeksha and two others, sought a probe into the alleged largest banking fraud facilitated by the ARCs.