HYDERABAD: An investigation by the vigilance wing of the Union Bank of India (UBI) into the transactions of Totem Infrastructure Limited (TIL) and furnished by the bank to the Central Bureau of Investigation reveals large diversion of money into non-consortium banks.
The consortium includes Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank, State Bank of India (earlier State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Mysore), Karnataka Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Oriental Bank of Commerce, with Union Bank of India as the lead banker.
In the complaint, the UBI stated that TIL has been banking with them since 2005 and they were periodically reviewing the outstanding levels on the request. The company has shown land parcels in Narsingi village as collateral to the consortium banks. This apart, an office space measuring 3,740 sq.ft. at Nirvana country in Gurgaon in Haryana was shown as collateral to the UBI.
However, after the company failed to execute projects taken from big companies, the bank guarantees furnished by TIL were invoked. TIL failed to adjust the outstanding and the loan amount. Hence, the account became a Non- Perfo-rming Asset (NPA) for non-payment.
Later, TIL opened another account in various banks, including Axis Bank, and diverted huge funds.
On noticing the discrepancies, the vigilance department of the bank conducted a probe and found that the company in 2012 had diverted huge funds into other bank accounts. It had also changed its chartered accountants and assigned the task to a Lucknow based firm.
The UBI in the complaint alleged that TIL did not cooperate with it in conducting a forensic audit at banks.
The Central Bureau of Investigation after basic enquiries registered a case under Section 120 — r/w 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.
