Hyderabad firm booked for cheating SBI

New Delhi, PTI: The CBI has booked a Hyderabad-based retail company for cheating the State Bank of India (SBI) to the tune of nearly Rs 134 crore by availing various credit facilities on the basis of forged documents between 2007 and 2014, officials said here on Friday.

In its FIR, the agency has said that PCH Retail, represented by directors Balvinder Singh and Baljit Kaur, had availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 133.95 crore during the seven-year period using false financial statements and documents.

The directors of PCH Retail entered into criminal conspiracy with chartered accountant Bhavesh R Vithlani, Versant Home Appliances director Taran Jyot Singh (both named in the FIR as accused) and unidentified bank officials of the SBI to cheat the bank, the FIR said.

The CBI said the accused diverted credit facilities availed by them to fictitious companies floated by them and others and siphoned off the bank's funds.

"It was further revealed that out of the loan amount, Rs 2.76 crore was fraudulently transferred to Versant Home Appliances Pvt Ltd for the purchase of immovable property, which was subsequently transferred to Balvinder Singh's daughter," it said.

It said that the account was declared a non-performing asset on September 28, 2013.

Alleging that a wrongful loss of Rs 133.95 crore was caused to the bank, the CBI booked the accused for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal misconduct by public servant and abuse of official position.