Bribes For Loan Scam Under Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI)Lens

The more they dig, the bigger it gets. The bribe-for-loan scandal is exploding in the Central Bureau of Investigation's hands as it wades through documents related to the deals and analyses phone intercepts that implicated Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain.

The scam has grown to involve an alleged Rs 8,000 crore of sanctioned loans from the piffling two or three it started with.

The breakthrough for the CBI was its arrest of Jain, along with a chartered accountant called Pawan Bansal who allegedly acted as middleman for deals between the Syndicate Bank chief and companies looking for large loans. 

The scope of investigation is likely to widen beyond the Syndicate Bank case as the agency is looking into allegations that Bansal struck deals worth over Rs 8,000 crore with other banks. 

The CBI is in possession of documents and phone intercepts indicating that Bansal got loans for companies from UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara Bank.

Loans worth Rs 6,500 crore sanctioned by UCO Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra, where Bansal is alleged to have lobbied for several companies paying bribes to top bank officials, are also under the CBI's scanner now.

Some of the loans allegedly sanctioned at Bansal's behest include a loan of Rs 600 crore to Era Infra, Rs 500 crore to Tayal Group, and Rs 1,300 crore to Arshiya International.

The Bank of Maharashta allegedly sanctioned Rs 200 crore to Era Infra, Rs 400 crore to SEL Manufacturing and Rs 200 crore to Shiv Vani Group.

In many cases, these loans became non-performing assets, forcing banks to go in for corporate debt restructuring.