Ahmedabad: The CID Crime has started an investigation into a loan fraud case after the branch manager of State Bank of India’s GIDC Electronics Estate branch in Gandhinagar filed a complaint. The complaint says that two partners of a food processing company diverted the machinery and assets that were mortgaged against several bank loans and then failed to repay the dues, causing a loss of over ₹4.42 crore to the bank.
According to the FIR filed by SBI with Police, the bank had approved loans for the company in October 2020. The company received a cash credit limit of ₹2 crore and a term loan of ₹80 lakh, secured by three warehouse properties worth ₹1.15 crore. The term loan was also covered under the CGTMSE scheme for small and medium enterprises.
The CGTMSE scheme is the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises, which provides credit guarantees to banks and financial institutions for loans extended to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) without the need for collateral.
Bank statements show that ₹80 lakh was paid directly to two machinery suppliers. However, during the Covid period, after one of the partners passed away, the company requested a loan restructuring. The State Bank of India (SBI) agreed on September 30, 2021, and extended four loan facilities worth ₹3.42 crore, including a working capital term loan and a funded interest term loan.
By December 2022, the loan accounts turned into NPAs as the company stopped making payments. When bank officials visited the factory, they found it locked and the machinery missing. The shed owner informed them that the unit had been closed and the equipment removed several months earlier.
More details will be released soon.
