Highlights:
- The owners of Ram Dev International Limited has been missing since past 4 years
- The owners have more than Rs. 400 crore in unpaid loans
A company whose owners fled India with more than Rs. 400 crore in unpaid loans to State Bank of India (ABI) along with several others have now been added to the list of mega defaulters who are evading actions against them. The owners of Rav Dev International Limited, a Delhi based Basmati rice exporter, was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly defaulting loans from 6 different banks and have been on the run since 2016.
In 2016 the company was listed as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) and 4 years later after SBI filed a complaint on 25th February, the CBI filed a case against the owners on 28th April.
Ram Dev International Limited allegedly borrowed a total of Rs. 414 crore – Rs. 173.11 crore from SBI, Rs. 76.09 crore from Canara Bank, Rs. 64.31 crore from Union Bank of India, Rs. 51.31 crore from Central Bank of India, Rs. 36.91 crore from Corporation Bank and Rs. 12.27 crore from IDBI Bank.
After the complaint filed by SBI, the CBI registered a case against the company and its directors Naresh Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Sangita and some unknown public servants. The charges vary from cheating and forgery to criminal breach of trust and corruption.
The complaint filed by SBI to CBI said, “Owing to liquidity problems, the account of the said company became NPA (non-performing asset) on 27.01.2016 with an outstanding of Rs 173.11 crore.”
SBI, which is the largest lender in India, also said that a special audit by the banks in 2016 showed that the accused people have “falsified the accounts, fudged the balance-sheet and illegally removed the plant and the machinery in order to gain unlawfully at the cost of bank funds.” in the complaint filed to CBI.
After the account was termed an NPA, SBI carried out a joint inspection of the company’s reports back in August and October of 2016. The company’s members were missing during that inspection said SBI in its complaint.
The complaint to the CBI said, “Borrowers were not available at the time of joint inspection and Haryana Police Security Guards were found deployed there. On enquiry, (we came to know) that the borrowers are absconding and have left the country,”.
SBI says, “there is absolutely no delay caused in filing the complaint”, however, the “missing” status of company’s owners was confirmed at least 1 year ago, in a case which involved another firm that went to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The documents submitted to the NCLT showed that Ram Dev International Limited was taken to the tribunal due to a default of payment of Rs. 30 lakh by a company called Mussadi Lal Krishna Lal. The tribunal then issued warrants three times against the directors of Ram Dev International Limited, starting 2018’s May, however, they could not be traced.
Later, in December 2018, the tribunal was then informed that the accused directors had fled to Dubai and were not available. Officials involved in this investigation told a leading news agency of India that SBI finally approached the CBI after realising that the recovery of the outstanding amount was “bleak” as the accused people had fled the country and already sold off majority of their properties.
