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NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against a now-dissolved British company, its former directors, guarantors, and unidentified public servants in connection with an alleged loan fraud of approximately Rs 63 crore involving the Export-Import Bank of India. According to agency officials, the action follows a formal complaint lodged by G. Selva Kumar, Assistant General Manager of India Exim Bank. The lender alleged that financial assistance of nearly 10 million US dollars was secured for a specific project, but the designated machinery was never supplied, and the borrowed funds were diverted toward other unauthorized purposes.
The federal agency has initiated a comprehensive inquiry to track the exact trail of the disbursed capital, identify the accounts that received the money, and establish why the procurement and delivery of the industrial equipment never occurred. Initial assessments indicate that the terms of the sanctioned credit facility were violated, resulting in substantial financial loss to the public sector financial institution.
British Firm and Multiple Entities Named in FIR
The central investigating agency named Henzer Biotech (Erith) Limited, a United Kingdom-based entity that has since been dissolved, as a key accused in the First Information Report. Its former directors and loan guarantors have also been booked alongside domestic corporate entities, including Navi Infrastructure Engineering Private Limited and Hume Synthesis Private Limited. Unidentified public servants have been placed under scrutiny as well to examine whether internal bank processes were manipulated.
Investigators will examine the precise roles played by each entity and individual throughout the credit appraisal, sanction, and implementation phases of the venture. A key objective of the investigation is to determine the extent of procedural and statutory irregularities, while confirming whether the disbursed funds were deployed for the contractually agreed commercial objectives or systematically siphoned away through shell or associated corporate accounts.
Non-Delivery of Machinery Under Federal Scrutiny
The central allegation in the case focuses on the total failure to supply the specialized machinery for which the bank had approved project financing. Investigators suspect that rather than acquiring the plant equipment, the beneficiaries rerouted the capital into alternate, unrelated commercial activities. If substantiated through documentary evidence, these acts would constitute a deliberate breach of loan agreements and criminal fraud against the institution.
The agency is gathering and reviewing all project agreements, equipment procurement papers, invoicing trails, and payment records associated with the facility. Investigators are also auditing the domestic and cross-border bank accounts that handled the transfer of funds to uncover the financial links between the Indian companies and their overseas counterpart.
Loan Account Classified as NPA in September 2014
According to the complaint filed by Exim Bank, the credit account turned into a non-performing asset in September 2014 with an outstanding balance of nearly 10 million US dollars. The bank stated that the persistent failure to recover the credit, combined with operational irregularities, caused it a direct loss of around Rs 63 crore.
The scope of the CBI inquiry extends beyond the British firm to explore the intercompany transactions, corporate relationships, and obligations of the guarantors. Sleuths will question former directors and company officials while examining institutional records to verify every link in the loan approval and fund dispersal process. Authorities noted that the case currently stands at the active investigative stage, and final legal conclusions will depend entirely on the evidence collected from banking records and seized paperwork.
