At a time when aftermath of Punjab National Bank scam is still in news all over India then sprung up another fraud worth of 5,000 crores. Recent news reports said that Nitin Sandesara, owner of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech could have fled to Nigeria after committing 5,000 crore bank. He was now wanted by both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.
As quoted by The Times of India an official said, “There were reports that Nitin Sandesara was detained by UAE authorities in Dubai in the second week of August. The information was incorrect. He was never detained in Dubai. He and other family members probably left for Nigeria much before that.”
The Agencies are also making effort to get in touch with Interpol to issue red corner notices against the Sandesaras. However, it is not known yet that if Sandesaras traveled to Nigeria on Indian passports or some other country’s document.
Other family members of Sandesara comprising brother Chetan Sandesara and sister-in-law Diptiben Sandesara are also believed to be hiding in Nigeria. Unluckily the reports came after one month since the occurring of the incident.
Things become difficult for Indian investigative agencies as the country does not have an extradition treaty or Mutual Assistance Treaty (MAT) with Nigeria.
The government has already observed this problem in many cases of fraud like cases relating to Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi.
Sources besides tell that it would be “difficult” for India to extradite Sandesara and his family from Nigeria.
Nitin Sandesara and his families have been booked by CBI and ED for cheating many banks over a period of time. The security agencies said that Nitin Sandesara has diverted huge amounts of funds to abroad and several benami companies have been registered to him.
The ED and the CBI have booked Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech, the company directors Nitin, Chetan and Dipti Sandesara, Vilas Joshi, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former Andhra Bank director Anup Garg and unidentified persons in connection with a fraud of Rs 5,000 crore.
The chief allegation against Nitin Sandesara and his family that they founded more than 300 shell and benami companies in India and abroad with a view to diverting loans. Officials said the plan for money laundering used by the Sandesaras consisted of formation of shell/benami companies, manipulating balance sheets, inflating turnover and insider shares trading. These firms were regulated and owned by the Sandesaras through dummy directors, who were or are employees of various companies of the Sterling group.
Earlier it was alleged that the Sterling Biotech, which is a pharma company, had taken a loan to the tune of Rs 5,383 crore from a consortium of banks led by Andhra Bank—the entire amount later converted into a non-performing asset. According to reports, the case also contains involvement of major politicians and bureaucrats but no names have come out in the open.
The Sandesaras have remained on the run since October 2017, when a case was registered by the CBI. Till now, the ED is probing a case of money laundering against the Sandesaras.