NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against Educomp Solutions Limited (ESL) and its former Managing Director for allegedly cheating Jammu & Kashmir Bank to the tune of Rs 360.30 crore.
The CBI had earlier booked the ESL in two other bank fraud cases involving over Rs 2,761 crore, while the ED had attached properties to the tune of Rs 90 crore of the company.
The bank in its complaint stated that the fraud was detected during the forensic audit on August 2, 2016, conducted by Grand Thornton.
The CBI has named the company’s then managing director Shantanu Prakash, its directors Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Vinod Kumar Dondana, guarantor Jagdish Prakash, corporate guarantor Edu Smart Services Private Limited (ESSPL) and unknown bank officials as accused in its FIR.
According to CBI FIR on the basis of the complaint from the J&K bank, the accused persons had approached the bank to get credit facilities for the execution of 1,233 contracts with schools for the installation and implementation of smart class equipment through ESSPL.
“The value of each contract was about Rs 30 lakh and the bank started extending the loans to them in December 2011,” the FIR stated.
The FIR further alleged that in 2014, the bank along with other lenders under a consortium arrangement restructured the credit facilities and sanctioned more funds to the company for buying out receivables in ESSPL after meeting the obligations of the respective banks to which those receivables were charged and other liabilities were met.
It further said that after exiting the restructuring, the borrower moved an application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code before the National Company Law Tribunal in May 2017 and the case was admitted.
The FIR also said that during the forensic audit it found multiple instances of irregularities.
It alleged that invoices were forged, balance sheets were manipulated, its stock price was inflated and funds were diverted to unlisted subsidiaries.
Educomp Infrastructure & Schools Management Limited is also facing a CBI FIR for alleged cheating and fraud by it after borrowing a sum of Rs 805 crore from a consortium of banks and diverting the same to unauthorised entities.
The CBI booked Educomp Solutions, its subsidiary and directors for allegedly defrauding an SBI-led consortium of 13 banks to the tune of Rs 1,955 crore in February 2020.