Food park scam: Court issues notices of closure after CBI files report

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a closure report in the case three years after filing a case against the directors of International Mega Food Park Ltd. The complainant has been served with a notice to file a response by Sukhdev Singh Special, Judicial Magistrate, CBI, Chandigarh, on August 4. Narender Singh, the Public Prosecutor, has filed the closure report.

On June 30, 2019, the CBI filed an IPC case against Sukhinder, his wife, and son under Sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation).

On June 30, 2019, the FIR was filed in response to a complaint filed by Pankaj Kumar Sahu, Deputy General Manager, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Chandigarh. The CBI conducted nationwide searches in numerous cities in connection with the alleged scam. The fraud involved forging bills of industrial machinery for which the company had borrowed Rs 33 crore from the SIDBI between 2011 and 2014.

The loans, it is claimed, were not repaid and were declared non-performing assets in June 2017. According to the complaint, when the inconsistencies were discovered, the bank conducted a forensic audit of the borrower company. According to the SIDBI complaint, the borrower defrauded the bank while working with associate companies. It also did not rule out the involvement of public employees, prompting the launch of an internal staff accountability exercise.

Loan fraud of Rs 33 crore

• The CBI filed an FIR in 2019 in response to a complaint filed by the DGM of the Small Industries Development Bank of India in Chandigarh.
• International Mega Food Park Ltd committed fraud by forging industrial machinery bills in order to obtain a Rs 33 crore loan from SIDBI between 2011 and 2014.
• Loans were allegedly not repaid and declared non-performing assets (NPAs) in June 2017. CBI conducted multi-city searches, while the bank conducted a forensic audit of the firm.