CBI arrests Mesco group chairman

CBI arrests Mesco group chairman
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, MAY 23: The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested chairman of the Mesco group of companies Jitender Kumar Singh and its finance controller Deepak Singh for allegedly cheating insurance companies, banks, financial institutions and shareholders to the tune of several crore of rupees.

CBI has alleged that Singh's company Mideast India Ltd had cheated United India Insurance Company to the tune of Rs 12 crore by submitting false "no objection certificate" (NOC) purportedly issued by Y V Luthra of IFCI and obtained payments on the basis of fake NOCs.

The agency further accused Jitender Singh's company Mideast India Ltd of issuing over 27 lakh fake share certificates and pledging them as security to Banque Nationale De Paris, Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) and Bank of Madura for availing loans.

Both the accused were produced before metropolitan magistrate Reena Singh Nag who remanded them to police custody till May 26 for interrogation by cbi.

CBI further alleged that Mideast Integrated Steel Ltd availed the facility of lease financing from Bank of Madura, First Leasing Company of India Ltd, Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd, Onida Finance Ltd and Monnet Finance Ltd by inducing them on the basis of fake invoices.

The agency alleged that in such transactions, payments made by Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd and Kesoram Refractories by an account payee cheque for over Rs 1.68 crore was deposited by finance controller Deepak Singh at Vijaya Bank's Defence Colony Branch in the account opened by him in the name of Kesoram Refractories.

The money was later withdrawn by him. The company caused loss to the shareholders by showing investment of several crore rupees in acquiring the assets on the basis of forged invoices and pocketed the money, CBI alleged.

The probe agency alleged that the accused did large scale manipulations in the book of accounts of Mideast Integrated Steel Ltd during 1996 and a sum of Rs 26.68 crore was advanced to its directors J K Singh, Rita Singh and Natasha Singh.

However, by manipulation they showed the money as having been advanced to Twenty First Century Finance Ltd. Later the sum was removed from the balance sheet and shown as spent on various items, CBI alleged.

The agency said that it has registered case against the accused for offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and fabricating documents which they allegedly committed during 1992-1997. The probe was spread over Delhi, Chennai, West Bengal, Orissa, Mumbai and many other places, it said.