Bank fraud case: Y Sujana Chowdary told to depose before CBI today

Hyderabad: Former Union minister and Telugu Desam parliamentarian Y. Sujana Chowdary has been issued a notice to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation in Bengaluru on April 26 in connection with a bank fraud case.

The case pertains to Best & Crompton Engineering Private Limited defrauding banks of Rs 364 crore during 2010-13. The money that was received as a loan by the company was transferred through bogus invoices and shell companies to Mahal Hotels, which during the probe was found to be a fake company. Both Best and Crompton Engineering and Mahal Hotels are part of the Sujana Group of Companies whose promoter is Y.S. Chowdary.

Properties worth Rs 364 crore attached
The CBI had filed the case against Best & Crompton Engineering Private Limited (BCEL) in 2017. Last November, the office and residences of Mr Chowdary were raided by the Enforcement Directorate and income-tax department. Properties worth Rs 364 crore have been attached by the ED.

Investigations by the CBI and ED revealed that former employees of the Sujana Group had been appointed directors of these shell firms.  While the loan fraud revolves around Best & Crompton in Chennai, city-based firms Sri Ganga Steel Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Bhagyanagar Investments and Trading Pvt Ltd, located at the same address, Nagarjuna Hills in Panjagutta, are being probed.

Tejaswini Engineering Pvt Ltd and Future Tech Industries are also being investigated.

The CBI has so far filed three FIRs — in February 2016, February 2017 and July 2018 — against Best & Crompton Engineering and its directors, including Kakulamarri Srinivas Kalyan Rao, the son of former CBI director and TRS leader K. Vijayarama Rao.

A total of Rs  304 crore — Rs  124 crore of Central Bank, Rs  60 crore of Andhra Bank and Rs 120 crore of Corporation Bank — was defrauded by Best & Crompton, according to the investigators. The other directors of Best & Crompton Engineering are Meka Ramakrishna Varma, Ravi Narayanaswamy Balachandran, Seshagiri Rao, Bellary Murali and chief financial officer Yogeswar R. Bajaj.

In response to the notice, Mr Chowdary in an official communication said: “Since 2003 I have been holding only non-executive positions in three entities of the Sujana Group, namely Sujana Universal Industries, Splendid Metal Products Limited and Neueon Towers Limited with no powers of management till October 2014. I was not holding any executive or non-executive positions in any corporate entity since October 2014 including the above three companies.”

“The summons which I received from the CBI is in respect of Best & Crompton Engineering Private Limited. I confirm that I am not having any connection with this company referred by them.” Regarding the notice, Mr Chowdary said he was travelling and would take “appropriate steps” in this matter.