Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, August 24: A case has been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Visa Power Ltd. of Kolkata for allegedly cheating a consortium of 14 banks by syphoning and diverting money to the tune of Rs 1964 crores.
Visa Power Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Visa Energy Ventures Ltd., is a fully owned subsidiary of Visa Infrastructure and developing a domestic coal-based thermal power project with a 1200 MW generation capacity at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, according to the FIR.
The FIR includes the names of the company’s Chairman, Vishambaran Saran, Chairman and Managing Director, Vikas Agarwal, and Joint Managing Director, Subrato Trivedi.
The borrower, Visa Power, represented by its directors, applied for a loan at the Punjab National Bank’s Station Square branch in Bhubaneswar. The bank was persuaded by the borrower’s financial statements and business projections, which it received from the bank that the company would grow under the specified loan limit.
The project was intended to be completed in two phases, each requiring 5600 MW. Phase I was financed by a group of 14 lenders, with PNB serving as the lead institution, with a TL ceiling of Rs 1964 crores (including Rs 394 cr that PNB had approved).
According to Visa Power Ltd.’s (VPL) audited financial accounts, VPL gave Visa Reality Ltd. (VR) a capital advance in the fiscal years 2011–12 and 2012–13 totalling Rs 60.08 crores and Rs 15.60 crores, respectively.
Such capital advance has been utilized by VRL for buying equity and preference shares in the related parties of VRL and VPL (Visa Minmetal Ltd.) The nature of the transaction indicates that the accused company intending to misappropriate the bank money has diverted the fund, the FIR reads.
It goes on to say that it is obvious from the evidence and circumstances that the accused conspired together to defraud public sector banks by diverting or syphoning money and committed various offences in violation of the IPC.
