Rs.74 Crore Fraud in UCO Bank, CBI rejects request of Topworth Steels

A special court of the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has rejected the request of Abhay Lodha, the director of Topworth Steels and Power Pvt Ltd, to be removed from a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy. The case is related to a fraud of ₹74 crore that caused a big financial loss to UCO Bank.

What is the case about?

• An FIR (First Information Report) was filed against a company named Akshata Mercantile Private Ltd (AMPL) and some unknown officials from UCO Bank.
• AMPL had submitted four bills under a Letter of Credit (LC) to the bank, worth ₹74 crore.
• But instead of using the money as per the rules of the LC, the money was diverted to Topworth Steels, a company in the Topworth Group.

Who filed the complaint?

The complaint was made by the general manager and zonal head of UCO Bank. They accused the people running AMPL and some bank officials of cheating the bank and causing a loss of ₹74.82 crore.

What did the CBI find?

According to the CBI:

• UCO Bank had paid (discounted) the bills, expecting the money to be repaid as per LC terms.
• But AMPL diverted the money to Topworth Group.
• One of the companies that was supposed to accept the bills rejected them, saying the documents were not proper.
• As a result, the bills remained unpaid, and the bank suffered a loss of ₹74.82 crore.
• The CBI said that the letters and documents used in this process were made on the instructions of Abhay Lodha.

What did Lodha’s side say?

Lodha’s legal team argued:

• He has nothing to do with AMPL’s daily work and is not a director in that company.
• Just because he was a guarantor for the LC doesn’t mean he was part of any fraud.
• There is no clear proof that he was involved in diverting the money.

What did the court say?

• The court said that even though Lodha is not officially a director in AMPL, he is the chairman of the Topworth Group, and AMPL is part of that group.
• The investigation showed that Lodha had direct control over AMPL’s business.
• The court also stated that without Lodha’s involvement, this fraud could not have happened.
• The judge added that the documents in the case show clear criminal intent behind Lodha’s actions involving UCO Bank.

Final Decision:

On June 12, the CBI court refused to remove Abhay Lodha from the case, stating that there is enough evidence to continue the case against him.