How Hyd-based Kompass Infrastructures duped Union Bank of Rs. 53cr
The Economic Offences Wing, Cyberabad, arrested the managing director of Kompass Infrastructures Private Limited for cheating Union Bank of India to the tune of Rs. 53 crores by creating forged bank guarantees.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 24 Dec 2021 11:25 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The Economic Offences Wing, Cyberabad, arrested the managing director of Kompass Infrastructures Private Limited for cheating Union Bank of India to the tune of Rs. 53 crores by creating forged bank guarantees.
Two cases were registered against the company and four of its directors.
On 8 July, the Madhapur police received a complaint from Sarigala Prakash Babu, the assistant general manager of Union Bank, who said the directors of Kompass Infrastructures Private Limited had obtained bank guarantees from their Kondapur branch to the tune of Rs. 53,18,50,093 in 39 transactions in favour of various beneficiaries like Hella Infra Market Ltd, HPCL, and Infinity Projects.
The company is represented by Kattamidi Santosh Reddy (managing director), Nekkanti Srinivas, Kondakal Gopal, and Somavarapu Surender Reddy.
After obtaining the bank guarantees, Kattamidi Santosh Reddy approached the bank and returned the bank guarantee (BG) and closed the transaction. However, recently the bank found out that in many of these transactions, the accused did not close his transaction with the beneficiary company but fabricated a fake bank guarantee and closed the transaction with the bank.
Upon verification, the bank found that the same bank guarantee with the same number was available with both the bank and the beneficiary. The accused had either submitted fabricated BG to the beneficiary company or submitted the fake one to the bank to close the transaction.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered under various sections of the IPC at Madhapur police station. It was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing, Cyberabad, for further investigation as the fraud was worth crores of rupees.
Duping the bank and the companies
During the investigation, the police found that the accused director had established Kompass Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. which undertakes civil contract works. He had taken bank guarantees from the Union Bank of India for procuring materials from different supplier companies. Based on the bank guarantees, eight companies had supplied materials to him.
To get the bank guarantees, the accused had kept as security properties of one of the directors. The maximum sanction limit to take bank guarantees is Rs. 15 crores as per the bank norms. Beyond Rs. 15 crores sanction limit, the bank guarantee should be closed or renewed at the bank to get a new bank guarantee in its place.
In order to get materials from different companies beyond the sanctioned limit prescribed by the bank, he had forged bank guarantees and submitted them to the companies. Meanwhile, he took the BG already submitted to the companies and returned it to the banks with the company's letters as if they were returned by the companies. In this way, he had obtained 39 bank guarantees from the bank and cheated it to the tune of Rs. 53 crores.
Fearing arrest, the accused managing director absconded to foreign countries. The EOW team watched his movements, collected technical and other evidence, and finally apprehended him from a private residence in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Nekkanti Srinivas was issued 41(A)CrPC notice based on the confession of the managing director. The other two directors are absconding but efforts are on to trace them.
