CBI files Rs 230-crore bank fraud case against Amrapali

The CBI has filed an FIR against Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd, its director Anil Sharma and others for allegedly cheating Bank of Maharashtra and Andhra Bank of over Rs 230 crore, officials said on Friday.

The banks had sanctioned credit facilities to develop a housing building at the Tech Zone IV in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on a plot measuring 1.06 lakh square metre, the FIR alleged.

The company failed to maintain financial discipline following which the account was declared a non-performing asset on March 31, 2017, the complaint from Bank of Maharashtra, now part of the FIR, has alleged, adding that "it has resulted in the loss of over Rs 230.97 crore".

Following the FIR, the CBI on Thursday conducted searches at four locations in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, they said.

Some Amrapali Group flat buyers had approached the Supreme Court owing to the non-delivery of promised flats to them in Noida and Greater Noida area where the company had promised to develop and sell 42,000 units.

The Supreme Court had ordered a forensic audit in the affairs of the company, the complaint has alleged.

In the forensic audit, it surfaced that the group allegedly diverted Rs 5,619 crore through different companies -- Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd, Amrapali Homes Projects Pvt Ltd, Ultra Home Constructions Pvt Ltd and Amrapali Grand, it said.

The bank asked the auditor to find out the amount of its money that has been diverted which showed that Rs 52.01 was transferred to Kapil Buildhome Pvt Ltd and Gaurisuta Infrastructure Pvt Ltd between 2013 and 2016 from the term loan sanctioned by Bank of Maharashtra, it said.

"The modus operandi followed by the accused person(s) actively portrays criminal conspiracy hatched between the accused person(s) with mala fide intention to cheat, defraud, deceive and cause wrongful loss to the banks and the accused persons have committed cheating, criminal breach of trust," the bank has alleged in the complaint.

Besides Sharma, the CBI has also named other directors Shiv Priya and Suvash Chandra Kumar, former director Pankaj Mehta, Atul Mittal and Ashish Jain -- both directors in Chintapurni Estate Pvt Limited (Corporate Guarantor) and Gagandeep Singh, authorised signatory in Chintapurni Estate, they said.

The CBI has filed the FIR under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.