CBI books Supertech, its promoter RK Arora for cheating IDBI Bank of ₹126.07 crore

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed an FIR against  Noida-based real estate developer Supertech, its promoter RK Arora and others for allegedly cheating IDBI Bank to the tune of ₹126.07 crore, officials said on Saturday.

Alongside Arora, the construction firm's whole-time directors Sangita Arora, Mohit Arora, Parul Arora, Vikas Kansal, Pradeep Kumar, Anil Kumar Sharma, and Anil Kumar Jain were named in the FIR, apart from the company itself, according to the officials.

Officials of the CBI on Saturday conducted coordinated search operations in five locations linked to the accused persons. Searches were conducted at official and residential premises in Noida and Ghaziabad in connection with the case.

During the raids, agency officials seized cash amounting to ₹28.5 lakh, CBI's spokesperson said in a statement.

IDBI Bank's complaint

The case was initiated following a complaint from IDBI Bank, which alleged that the accused had conspired to misappropriate sanctioned loan funds through fraudulent means.

According to the FIR, the bank alleged that the company and its directors submitted forged documents to secure credit facilities under false pretenses.

The loan account was subsequently declared a wilful default and categorised as fraudulent, allegedly resulting in wrongful losses totalling ₹126.07 crore to IDBI Bank Ltd., the CBI said.

SC orders probe into Supertech projects

Observing an “unholy” nexus between the banks and developers, the Supreme Court in April had directed the CBI to register a preliminary inquiry into projects of realty major Supertech Limited in NCR.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh took into account an affidavit filed by CBI and directed the UP, Haryana DGPs to give a list of DSPs, inspector, constables to the agency to constitute a special investigation team (SIT).

The top court further directed the CEOs/administrators of Greater Noida Authority, Noida Authority, secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and RBI to notify one nodal officer from among their senior-most officers within a week to extend necessary assistance to the SIT.

The apex court previously said thousands of homebuyers were affected by the subvention scheme, where banks paid 60 to 70 per cent of the home loan amount to the builders without projects being completed within the stipulated time.

The apex court had then ordered the CBI to submit a roadmap on how it planned to unravel the "builder-banks nexus" which duped thousands of homebuyers in the NCR and proposed to go into the root of the matter.

(This is a developing story. Check back for updates)