J&K ACB registers case against private firm, J&K Bank officials for fraud worth crores

Jammu, June 28 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday registered a case against a private firm and some J&K Bank officials involved in an alleged fraud worth crores.

The ACB sleuths carried out surprise checks at a number of places during which it was revealed that a private firm M/S Paradise Avenue had managed financial frauds running into crores with the involvement of some J&K Bank officials.

Sources said Paradise Avenue, which dealt with real estate and information technology, had obtained a loan of over Rs 177 crore and defaulted on the very first quarter of its repayment in September 2017. However, it managed to get the account declared as NPA by the bank with the sole objective of committing a fraud worth crores.

Conniving with bank officials, the firm managed a one-time settlement (OTS) with a loan waiver of Rs 50 crore.

Sources said the agreed amount of Rs 40 crore was paid by the firm through a cheque that subsequently bounced. The firm managed illegal and highly irregular financial considerations from the bank, which caused losses of crores of rupees to the financial institution, sources added.

The firm had started its financial transactions by availing a loan of Rs 74.27 crore from J&K Bank's New University Campus branch in Jammu. It subsequently availed three more loans taking its credit to Rs 177.68 crore.

ACB sources said based on these facts, the Bureau registered a case under relevant sections of state anti-corruption laws against the firm's owner and officials of the bank.