Rotomac’s Vikram Kothari detained in Kanpur in Rs 800-crore loan default case
Mangalore Today News Network
New Delhi, Feb 19: The Central Bureau of Investigation detained Vikram Kothari, the owner of Rotomac Pen, in a Rs 800-crore loan default case. Kothari was detained from Kanpur, where the CBI carried out raids this morning.
Kothari’s detention came hours after reports of him having fled the country. Kothari, however, denied those reports, saying, "I am a resident of Kanpur and I will stay in the city."
The CBI has registered a case against Rotomac pen promoter Vikram Kothari and his family in connection with a case related to the alleged swindling of Rs 3,695 crore of bank loan funds, officials said on Monday.
The scam was earlier estimated at around Rs 800 crore.
The case against Kanpur-based Rotomac Global Pvt Limited, its director Vikram Kothari, his wife Sadhana Kothari, and son Rahul Kothari and unidentified bank officials was filed on a complaint received from Bank of Baroda, they said.
Earlier, PTI, quoting unnamed sources, reported that Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India compromised their rules to sanction loans to Rotomac.
Kothari took a loan of Rs 485 crore from Mumbai-based Union Bank of India and a loan of Rs 352 crore from Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank, the PTI report said, adding that Kothari had reportedly not paid back either the interest or the loan a full year after being lent the money.
It was not immediately clear how the other three banks named in the PTI report were involved in the Rotomac affair. However, the CBI’s action today was based on a complaint filed by Bank of Baroda.
The Rotomac affair comes close on the heels of a massive fraud allegedly committed by billionaire diamond trader Nirav Modi.
Nirav Modi and his associates, including uncle and fellow jeweller Mehul Choksi, are alleged to have carried out fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs 11,300 crore at a Punjab National Bank branch in Mumbai.
The CBI is investigating the PNB fraud case. Nirav Modi has already left the country, with reports suggesting that he is currently staying at a posh hotel in New York, US.