ED arrests Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri in alleged bank fraud case

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Move comes after an FIR registered last week by CBI against Moser Baer India Limited and others

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud case involving ₹354.51 crore.He was arrested on the basis of an FIR registered last week by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL) and others.Among those named in the case are company’s managing director Deepak Puri, whole-time director Nita Puri, and the then executive director and their son Ratul Puri.AgustaWestland case The ED is also probing his alleged role in the AgustaWestland case, and a city court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him.As alleged in the bank fraud case, the company and its functionaries cheated the Central Bank of India of ₹354.51 crore.The Central Bank of India, in its complaint, said the company had availed itself of credit facilities under multiple-institution arrangement from 14 public sector banks.As on November 30, 2011, the outstanding stood at ₹960.60 crore in term loans, fund-based working capital of ₹646.69 crore and ₹355.45 crore in non-fund based working capital.The company sought debt restructuring in February 2012. The Central Bank of India, as the lead of newly-formed consortium, was appointed the monitoring institution.The restructuring package was approved in April 2013. However, it is alleged that MBIL did not comply with the conditions, after which the banks were allowed to withdraw the accounts.The State Bank of India declared the account with it as non-performing asset in November 2014. The amount of ₹354.51 crore was admitted in the National Company Law Tribunal in November 2017. While the company is now under liquidation, its board of directors has been suspended.The bank alleges that despite the fact that MBIL had an exposure to its related entities worth ₹1,456.12 crore, it did not make efforts to redeem its investments. It took key financial decisions without the bank’s prior approval.The company allegedly gave corporate guarantee of about ₹.2,051.87 crore on behalf of its subsidiaries, for which it did not seek the bank’s permission. Assets pledged to the bank as security against the loans were removed to evade recovery, it is alleged.