The more
they dig, the bigger it gets. The bribe-for-loan scandal is exploding in
the Central Bureau of Investigation's hands as it wades through
documents related to the deals and analyses phone intercepts that
implicated Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain.
The scam has grown to involve an alleged Rs 8,000 crore of sanctioned loans from the piffling two or three it started with.
The breakthrough for the CBI was its arrest of Jain, along with a
chartered accountant called Pawan Bansal who allegedly acted as
middleman for deals between the Syndicate Bank chief and companies
looking for large loans.
The investigation could expose
one of the biggest corruption
scandals in public sector banking
if the CBI can get to the bottom of
the conspiracy
As
the bureau dug deeper, it uncovered a well-oiled nexus in operation:
bribes to the heads of public sector banks and financial institutions,
for loans in return.
Top sources said Bansal is alleged to be the mastermind of this
scandal. The scope of investigation is likely to widen beyond the
Syndicate Bank case as the agency is looking into allegations that
Bansal struck deals worth over Rs 8,000 crore with other banks.
The CBI is
in possession of documents and phone intercepts indicating that Bansal
got loans for companies from UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara
Bank.
Loans
worth Rs 6,500 crore sanctioned by UCO Bank and the Bank of
Maharashtra, where Bansal is alleged to have lobbied for several
companies paying bribes to top bank officials, are also under the CBI's
scanner now.
Some
of the loans allegedly sanctioned at Bansal's behest include a loan of
Rs 600 crore to Era Infra, Rs 500 crore to Tayal Group, and Rs 1,300
crore to Arshiya International.
The
Bank of Maharashta allegedly sanctioned Rs 200 crore to Era Infra, Rs
400 crore to SEL Manufacturing and Rs 200 crore to Shiv Vani Group.
In many cases, these loans became non-performing assets, forcing banks to go in for corporate debt restructuring.
CBI sources said to understand the entire scam they need to analyse all these cases.
"We need to establish that Bansal paid bribes to bank officials to get
these loans passed as has been done in the Syndicate Bank case. Our
efforts to establish the money trails are on," said a CBI officer.
Sources said Bansal uses his firm Altius Finserv Limited as a front to
collect fees from various companies who paid him to get the loans
sanctioned, and a part of this money was then passed on to bank
officials.
The CBI's First Information Report in the Syndicate Bank case clearly
states that Bansal is in touch with heads of several heads of public
sector banks and acts as a middleman.
"It has been learnt that Shri Pawan Bansal regularly meets these bank
officials for pursuing the loan proposals prepared and processed by his
firm on behalf of his clients," the FIR states.
Bansal who
functions from his offices at Mumbai's tony Nariman Point and the
upmarket Barakhamba Road in New Delhi is said to be a smooth and
softly-spoken operator who uses his personal influence on bank
officials.
Knowing his clout over senior officials in banks, business houses
submit their loan proposals through his firm on the pretext of providing
various financial services like credit solutions, debt capital market
and investment banking.
The investigation could expose one of the biggest corruption scandals
in public sector banking if the CBI can get to the bottom of the
conspiracy where Bansal seems to be the key player.
The CBI has several incriminating intercepts of conversations between Bansal and others involved.
More
cases could be registered if there is prima facie evidence, and the
role of Bansal is being scrutinised to unearth the entire scam.
