The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked four people, including a woman, in connection with the alleged cheating of the Bank of Maharashtra worth Rs 4.5 crore. The case pertains to the alleged inflated rates of land parcels in Nagor village in Bhuj district.
The CBI probe showed that the land parcels’ prices were inflated up to seven times the original rates. The bank had filed a complaint against Shailesh Pandya, director of Rishi Kotex Pvt Ltd, another director, Minakshi Soni, her husband and the firm’s CEO Jagdish Soni, and land valuer Mayur Soni.
The bank alleged that the loan of Rs 4.5 crore to purchase the land parcels was availed in 2012, and has sought to recover over Rs 9.36 crore from the accused.
The CBI probe revealed that the accused approached the bank seeking loans to buy 60 plots in Nagor and another land parcel in Harij. After the initial sanction of Rs 3 crore loan by the bank’s Bhadra branch in 2012, the amount was increased to Rs 4.5 crore in 2013.
In 2012, Gandhinagar-based land valuer Mayur Soni declared the said land parcels worth Rs 3.58 crore. However, during an audit in 2016, it was revealed that the land parcels’ value was just over Rs 50 lakh.
Sources said that the CBI probe further revealed that Rishi Kotex was involved in alleged fraudulent transactions of Rs 90 lakh without any products or goods being exchanged.
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