The CBI has expanded its probe in the Syndicate Bank bribery scandal to include the appointment of SK Jain as chairman and managing director even as absconding vice-chairman of Bhushan Steel Limited Neeraj Singhal was arrested on Thursday. Singhal had allegedly given Rs 50 lakh bribe to Jain.
Singhal allegedly went missing from his residence after the agency carried out searches and did not appear before the CBI for examination. He had applied for anticipatory bail but it was rejected by the special CBI court of Swarna Kanta Sharma.
Earlier in the day, a CBI court issued non-bailable warrants against Singhal and a middleman Purushottam Totlani.
Agency officials said they had increased the ambit of their probe in the scandal involving PSU banks. Sources said they were looking into appointments in Syndicate Bank and others where the same set of middlemen wielded influence.
When contacted, counsel for Prakash Industries Vijay Aggarwal told TOI, "It is a false allegation as my client had rejected the bank's offer to take a loan since the terms and conditions didn't suit the company. So why would a person give illegal gratification, when he is not taking a favour? My client is a reputed company. It doesn't need any favour to run its business. Instead, it gives good business to banks." On August 2, CBI had arrested six persons, including Jain, for allegedly taking bribe of Rs 50 lakh to raise the credit limit of some companies in violation of banking rules. CBI has filed two cases against Jain, accusing him of receiving a bribe of Rs 50 lakh through conduits and abusing his official position to enhance the credit limit of some companies.
Investigations have also revealed that Prakash Industries, named in one of the FIRs, may have given Rs 3.50 crore to Jain, said sources. Sources said Jain got the bribe from Prakash Industries for allegedly favouring the sanction of external commercial borrowings of $20 million
When contacted, counsel for Prakash Industries Vijay Aggarwal told TOI, "It is a false allegation as my client had rejected the bank's offer to take a loan since the terms and conditions didn't suit the company. So why would a person give illegal gratification, when he is not taking a favour? My client is a reputed company. It doesn't need any favour to run its business. Instead, it gives good business to banks."
Source: The Times of India
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