CBI books textile major, S Kumars Nationwide Ltd in bank fraud case of over Rs 160 crore

The CBI has registered a case of bank fraud against textile major S Kumars Nationwide Ltd for allegedly cheating Union Bank of India of over Rs 160 crore, officials said on Saturday.

The agency has acted on a complaint from the bank alleging that the company and its promoters and directors, including managing director Nitin Kasliwal, and directors Vijay Goverdhandas Kalantri, Anil Kumar Channa, Rajinder Krishan Garg and Jagadeesh Sanjeeva Reddy, indulged in fraudulent transactions causing a loss to the bank.

The company had availed various credit facilities from the bank which turned into a non-performing asset in 2013, and the account was declared fraud in 2020 after a forensic audit by the KPMG.

The bank in its complaint to the CBI, now a part of the FIR, has alleged that the company defrauded it by directing 94 percent sales to selective distributors, writing off receivables from customers and entering into "doubtful" resale transactions to the same customer at heavily discounted prices.

The forensic audit also red-flagged transactions with two potentially linked customers and over three-fourth transactions with non-operating entities, the officials said.

The bank alleged that auditors of the company had investments in the company, they said.

"The said borrower company and its directors caused wrongful loss of Rs 160.68 crores to the said bank and wrongful gain to themselves during the period 2013-2018," the FIR alleged.

It said the directors named in the FIR in collusion and in conspiracy with one another and unidentified officials defrauded the bank by taking recourse to commission of various cognisable and non-cognisable offences.