Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a second supplementary charge sheet in the Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) case in a special court here on Friday, accusing Reliance ADA Group Group Managing Director Amitabh Jhunjhunwala of the offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal misappropriation and cheating that caused a loss of over Rs 971 crore to the State Bank of India (SBI).
The supplementary chargesheet, before the Special Judge for CBI Cases, is based on the CBI’s investigation, which revealed that Jhunjhunwala, who held a pivotal position in the group, acted in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy to cheat the SBI by dishonestly and fraudulently availing a term loan of Rs 1,200 crore for Reliance Communications Limited and Reliance Infratel Limited. These companies did not repay the loans, causing a wrongful loss of around Rs 971.25 crore to the bank, according to a CBI statement.
The CBI registered the case based on an SBI complaint. According to the FIR, the total exposure of Indian public sector banks and financial institutions in the case is Rs 19,694.33 crore.
The CBI had earlier filed the first charge sheet on May 29 this year against 16 accused persons, including Reliance Communications Limited, five senior executives of the company, and 10 bank officials. Subsequently, the CBI also filed a supplementary charge sheet against Netizen Engineering P Limited and its directors, Anil Jamna Kalya and Tunu Sahu. With the second supplementary charge sheet filed against Jhunjhunwala, a total of 20 accused persons have been booked in this case.
The statement said that further investigation continues against other accused persons and into other aspects of the case.
The CBI has registered eight FIRs against Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL), and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL) on complaints received from various public sector banks, LIC and the EPFO.
The CBI has, so far, arrested seven accused persons in the Reliance ADA Group cases. All are currently in judicial custody.
The Supreme Court is monitoring the investigation in these cases.
–IANS
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