A Delhi court denies bail to an accused loan fraudster because it "erodes public trust"

The Enforcement Directorate claimed the accused caused a loss of over ₹ 30 crore.

  

New Delhi :  In a money laundering case involving an accused bank loan scam, a court in this country denied bail to a defendant, stating that such "unscrupulous shenanigans" undermine public trust and destroy the foundations of the economy.

Bharat Rana Chaudhary's request for bail was denied by Special Judge Neelofer Abida Perveen, who described his method as "sinister" and claimed that he was "prima facie" tampering with the evidence and fabricating evidence.

According to the ED, Chaudhary's failure to make credit repayments from 2010 to 2012 cost Punjab National Bank around 30 crore rupees.

The judge stated, "The allegations are exceedingly serious, the offense grave, not only from the standpoint of the significant amount of POC (proceeds of crime) involved, but also because the accused's method of operation was so complex and evil that he was able to deceive the bank on multiple occasions, siphoning off significant sums of public funds in the process, layering and re-routing the same to himself, and satisfying other shady elements and operations in the process.

She said that there was no evidence presented to the court that would have shown the accused's innocence of the charge of money laundering.

Economic offenses should be handled as a distinct class unto themselves, the judge ruled. "It isin fact such unscrupulous shenanigans that erode public trust and weaken the foundations of the economy," the judge added.

She said that it had been established that the accused had been uncooperative from the beginning and that she had ignored multiple summonses to participate in the inquiry.

Additionally, the search of his property resulted in the discovery of documents that showed these were being faked, the judge said in an order issued on July 12.

"The end user of the POC (proceeds of crime), a significant portion is yet untraced, and the potential of the accused tampering with evidence to dodge the finding of end user of POC that remains to be unearthed does not sound too baseless and far-fetched. That the accused is unlikely to conduct a similar crime is therefore not sufficient evidence in the accused's favor, she said.

The accused had applied for bail, claiming that the case had been filed in 2015 and that he had been detained by the ED on February 14, 2023.

He argued that since the charge sheet had already been submitted in the case once the investigation was complete, there would be no benefit to keeping him in detention any longer.

The ED argued against the motion, claiming that the arrest was made to stop the falsification of documents, the swaying of eyewitnesses, and the obstruction of money laundering investigations.

It claimed there was sufficient proof he was fabricating and tampering with material to support the transactions in his firm's account.

In order to obtain a loan from Punjab National Bank, the ED claims that Chaudhary enlisted the aid of others and used false, forged, and manufactured valuable securities, fraudulent identification documents, falsified rental deeds, forged collateral security papers, phony audited balance sheets, and other documents.

He obtained a Cash Credit Facility between 2010 and 2011 under the names of several companies, including Surya Impex, Jupiter Trading, and Four Season Agro Products Ltd/Four Seasons Sortex Pvt Ltd, on the basis of forged and false documents. Through deceptive means, he siphoned off the loan funds and never used them in the business operations of these companies.

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The ED asserted that the accused was responsible for a loss of around 30 crore.