The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mohit Kamboj and four others for reportedly deceiving the state-run Bank of India to the tune of Rs.67 crore, NDTV reported.

Kamboj has denied allegations piled on him and said that a one-time settlement has been made of Rs. 30 crore in 2018. However, the bank claimed that the settlement had some discrepancies in the source of funds submitted.

The case has put some bank officials under the CBI radar, sources familiar with the investigation said to NDTV.

Kamboj, who has changed his last name to Bhartiya, is the Managing Director and Guarantor of M/s Avyaan Overseas Pvt Ltd, which had taken a loan of Rs. 60 crore from the Bank of India in 2013.

In March 2015, the company's account was declared a Non-Performed Asset - a tag given to companies after extending the period of non-payment of loans.

"An internal investigation by the bank revealed that the company indulged in diversion of funds for purchase of a flat in the name of one of the directors through payments to undisclosed parties," the bank has stated in its complaint to the CBI.

Bank’s claims

The bank has claimed that the company has not submitted its financial statements since 2014.

According to the bank, many of its directors resigned after the company account was tagged NPA. Among those who resigned were Mr Kamboj, who exited on May 27, 2015, Abhishek Kapoor in 2013, Naresh Kapoor in 2014 and Jitendra Kapoor in 2016, NDTV reported.

"The company, its promoters and directors have committed criminal offence with dishonest intention to defraud the bank and misappropriated public funds to put the bank in loss. The wrongful act committed by the accused has caused the bank to suffer a wrongful loss to the tune of more than Rs. 67.22 crore," the Bank of India has alleged.

After the bank filed the complaint, CBI registered a case against Kamboj of duping cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and corruption against Mohit Kamboj, Abhishek Kapoor, Naresh Kapoor, Siddhant Bagla, Irtesh Mishra, M/s Avyaan Overseas Pvt Ltd, M/s KBJ Hotels Goa Pvt Ltd and unknown public servants.

Kamboj, who is the leader of BJP’s Mumbai unit, responded to the allegations saying: "Compromise in the above loan account was done in 2018 by paying Rs. 30 crore as one-time settlement of dues. I also received a no-dues certificate from the Bank of India in March 2019. I don't know why the bank has gone ahead with this complaint after two-and-a-half years of clearing all dues; they have made a mistake. Nevertheless, I will cooperate with the CBI probe. I trust them fully."

The bank has stated that the settlement resulted in loss to the bank.

"The one-time settlement offered of Rs. 28 crore was below the benchmark, i.e., Rs. 33.61 crore. The management committee considered and approved the proposed one-time settlement from Rs. 28 crore to Rs. 30 crore and written off Rs. 37.22 crore, which resulted in a sacrifice of Rs. 57.26 crore," the bank has alleged.

"The memorandum, with several omissions, was put up before the external settlement advisory committee...the source of funds for meeting OTS obligation was not discussed in it... Thus, there is major discrepancy by way of suppression of irregularity in group accounts while putting up for one-time settlement," the bank has stated quoted as saying in the NDTV report.

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