SBI reports Nathella bank fraud to CBI

In yet another bank fraud involving Chennai-based businessmen, the State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said it has reported to CBI about a Rs 250-crore fraud by Nathella Sampath Jewellery Private Limited (NSJPL), which shut all its shops last year.

The development comes two days after the CBI booked Bhoopesh Kumar Jain and Neeta Jain, directors of Chennai-based Kanishk Gold Private Limited. The SBI said it had declared the accounts of both Nathella and Kanishk as "fraud" in the fag end of 2017.

According to SBI, Nathella Sampath Jewellery, which shut all its seven showrooms across the state, was incorporated in 2007 and the company indulged in misrepresentations of financial statements from 2010. "The company liquidated the primary asset kept as security/collateral," the SBI said.

"Around Rs 250 crore loan sanctioned by SBI in a consortium arrangement has been classified by the bank as fraudulent on December 22, 2017, for having misrepresented the financial statements from 2010 and liquidated its primary asset. The matter has been reported to the CBI for necessary action," said SBI.

"The matter of NSJPL has been reported to CBI for necessary action," SBI said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate began its investigation into the Kanishk Gold case and is understood to have conducted searches on premises belonging to the company.