CBI arrests LIC Housing chief, senior bank officials on graft charges

Source :Business Line :Mumbai, Nov.24

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested eight senior officials of banks and financial institutions on charges of taking bribes for sanctioning loans.

The arrested officials are: Mr R.R. Nair, Director and Chief Executive, LIC Housing Finance; Mr Naresh Chopra, Secretary (Investment), Life Insurance Corporation of India; Mr R.N. Tayal, General Manager, Bank of India; Mr Maninder Singh Johar, Director (Chartered Accountant), Central Bank of India; Mr Venkoba Gujjal, Deputy General Manager, Punjab National Bank; Mr Rajesh Sharma, CMD, Money Matters (India) Pvt Ltd, Mr Sanjay Sharma and Mr Suresh Gattani, employees of Money Matters, a listed, Mumbai-based financial services company.

All the accused have been remanded to CBI custody till November 29 by the Sessions Court in Mumbai. In its remand application, the agency has accused them of causing wrongful gain to themselves and wrongful loss to the public exchequer.

The agency said it conducted searches at various locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Jalandhar and seized incriminating documents. It has registered five separate cases.

According to the CBI, it has busted a racket in which the private financial services company, Money Matters (India) Pvt Ltd, its CMD, Mr Rajesh Sharma, and other associates were allegedly bribing senior officials of public sector banks and financial institutions for facilitating large-scale corporate loans.

The accused were also gathering confidential business information from banks and financial institutions, said a senior CBI officialat a news conference here on Wednesday.

“Officers of top management and middle management of various public sector banks and financial institutions were receiving illegal gratifications from the private financial services company who were acting as mediators and facilitators for corporate loans and other facilities from financial institutions,” said Mr P. Kandaswamy, Joint Director, CBI.

The companies whohave been mentioned as getting loans in the CBI's first information report include Lavasa, Vatika, Krishna Group, Suzlon, JP Group, MBD, Gold Sukh Project, EmaarMGF, and DB Realty. Loans to these companies, most of them in the realty sector, were sanctioned by the banks and financial institutions in 2009. Officials from these banks and customers were not immediately available for comment.

CBI officials said it is a clear-cut case of top bank and financial institutions' officials receiving kickbacks from a financial services intermediary for sanctioning large project loans to corporations. These loans, which could run into a few thousand crore rupees, may not be in jeopardy. This means that loans, by themselves, are not bad ones.It is only the manner in which they have been obtained and the role of public servants that are under the scanner.

These cases are unlikely to have a systemic impact as these are isolated bribery cases, said a bank official. Loans have to pass through a several-layered sanctioning process. Large loans are passed by a committee of senior officials at banks.

The LIC Housing Finance chief is alleged to have received a bribe of Rs 45 lakh from Money Matters.

He is accused of providing undue favours to companies such as DB Realty, Mantri Realty, Entertainment World (Lucknow), Indore City Treasures and Pashmina Developers.

Another accused, Mr Naresh Chopra, Secretary (Investment), LIC, has been allegedly providing insider information on dealings and investment matters at Life Insurance Corporation of India relating to Adani, J P Hydro, JSW Power and Pantaloons. He is alleged to have received a bribe from Mr Rajesh Sharma, CEO of Money Matters, to provide this insider information.