Two chartered accountants firms have also been implicated in the CBI investigation of edible oil trader Dinesh Arora, who defrauded Bank of Baroda to the tune of Rs 32.5 crore. These firms have also been taken under the scanner.
Funds were diverted after availing cash credit and LC ie Letter of Credit facility in Bank of Baroda in the name of Krishna Containers. After the complaint of Bank of Baroda, the CBI investigation revealed that 26 letters of credit worth 39 crore 57 lakh were issued.
The bills charged against this were not genuine but were only adjusted from one company to another. In view of this, the CBI has also included the names of the firm’s CA and stock auditor in the investigation. CA Pankaj Khanna & Associates and CA Manish Srivastava, the auditor who conducted the stock audit, and his firm CA Manish-Avnish & Co. will also be questioned. How was the audit done? How was there so much negligence in checking the transaction. The role of everyone is being probed as to why no questions were raised regarding fake billing.
The CBI investigation has established that Krishna Containers and its associates have deliberately committed the fraud. To defraud the bank, he made adjustment bills with associates and group firms. Embezzled bank funds without doing actual business on the basis of challans and lorry receipts and through the accounts of associates. Crude edible oil was imported through high sea business, for which the facility of foreign letter of credit of the bank was used.
It was being sold to Dinesh Oils Limited, one of his associate firms. Bank of Baroda’s letter of credit was used for exemption from other banks, which was not communicated to Bank of Baroda. Crores of rupees were also taken from other banks by deception. Such a long fraud went on for four years and the company’s CA firm and the auditor did not even notice, that is why both the firms have also been included in the investigation.