Rs.1740 Crore Fraud in SBI and other Banks, ED has arrested Dinesh Gupta – former MD of Best Foods Limited

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Dinesh Gupta, the former Managing Director of Best Foods Limited, in connection with a massive bank fraud case. Gupta was arrested on August 8, 2025, and after being presented before the court, he was remanded to six days of ED custody for interrogation. Following this, on August 13, the court sent him to judicial custody until August 27, 2025.

The case is based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2020 against Best Foods Limited and others. The ED’s investigation focuses on allegations that the company, one of India’s largest premium Basmati rice processors, misappropriated loans worth ₹1,740 crore taken from a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India.

SBI had filed complaint to CBI that Best Foods Limited (BFL) was selling rice under one umbrella brand of BEST with different names like Best Premium, Best Super Premium, across India. The company had installed capacity of 101 MT per hour of paddy milling and 149 MT per hour of rice sorting and grading, and had emerged as “one of the largest processors of premium basmati rice in the country”.

The bank alleged that the company started defaulting on loan payments resulting in the classification of their accounts as non performing assets on September 27, 2016, with Rs 1006.46 crore outstanding. During a forensic audit, the bank spotted alleged fudging of balance sheets by inflating inventories and diversion of bank funds to misappropriate them.

As part of the investigation, ED carried out searches between July 15 and 17, 2025, at five locations in Karnal, Chandigarh, Kaithal, and Ambala. During these searches, officials froze five high-end vehicles suspected to be bought using illegal funds — proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Investigators allege that Dinesh Gupta manipulated the liquidation auction process of Best Foods Limited by using more than 75 shell companies registered in the names of his relatives to purchase the company’s assets, bypassing legal checks. The ED also claims to have uncovered benami (proxy-owned) properties worth over ₹200 crore, allegedly acquired using diverted bank funds.

The ED is now working to trace the flow of these illicit funds and identify other individuals who may have played a role in the fraud. The investigation is ongoing and more details will be released soon.