Latest news with #ManishMandhana
Indian Express
28-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Loan fraud case: HC suspends LOC against Manish Mandhana, allows him to travel abroad
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday suspended the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued by the CBI against Manish Mandhana, former director of Mandhana Industries Ltd, who is accused in a bank loan fraud case, and allowed him to travel abroad. Earlier this month, the HC had suspended the LOC issued against him at the behest of Bank of Baroda. Bank of Baroda, the lead banker among a consortium of banks, had in its complaint with the CBI last year alleged that the accused directors of Mandhana Industries Ltd (now GB Global Ltd) Purushottam Mandhana, Manish Mandhana, Biharilal Mandhana and others defrauded the banks to the tune of Rs 975.08 crore. As per the CBI FIR, the accused persons allegedly hatched a criminal conspiracy to cause losses to banks for wrongful gain by diverting loan funds through fraudulent transactions. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also started its probe based on the CBI FIR. On May 9, another bench led by Justice A S Chandurkar had suspended LOC issued against Mandhana by the Bank of Baroda till June 3 to enable him to attend his son's convocation ceremony on May 24 and 25 in New York and his travel to London from May 25 to June 2 to meet his daughter. On Tuesday, a vacation bench of HC of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan was informed by Mandhana's lawyers that at the airport, he discovered that there was another LOC relating to the same case issued at the instance of CBI which prevented him from travelling. The bench noted that the HC on May 9 had already applied its mind and had imposed various conditions and compliances on the applicant in connection with the travel and had considered that the right to travel abroad is recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. However, raising objections to the plea, CBI stated that a detailed itinerary was not set out in the application and the travel as originally proposed had been rendered infructuous since he was still in India. 'Since the inability to travel occurred only because of the LOC issued by the CBI, we are not inclined to accept this objection,' the bench noted. It also took on record the detailed itinerary submitted by Madhana and suspended LOC issued at the request of CBI on the same terms set out in May 9 decision. The court clarified that its order would not apply to any other LOC or restraint order, if any, issued by any other authority and directed immigration authorities to permit Mandhana to travel abroad. The HC has posted the matter for compliance on June 12.
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Bombay high court suspends LOC against Manish Mandhana
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court recently allowed Manish Mandhana, former director of Mandhana Industries Ltd accused in a money laundering case, to travel to New York and London while suspending the lookout circular issued against him. A division-bench of justice A S Chandurkar and justice Dr Neela Gokhale were listening to a plea by the textile magnate on May 9 seeking permission to travel to New York to attend his son's convocation ceremony and then USA to London to meet his daughter. Manish was permitted to travel from Mumbai to the two cities between May 14 and June 2, stated the court while allowing his application. The CBI had registered an FIR against the Mumbai-based Mandhana Industries (now GB Global Ltd) in 2023 for allegedly defrauding a consortium led by Bank of Baroda of ₹975.08 crore. The CBI action was based on a complaint from the bank which alleged that former managing director Purushottam Chhaganlal Mandhana, former executive director Manish Biharilal Mandhana, and a few others defrauded the consortium in a well-knit criminal conspiracy to funnel funds. The 39-year-old company controlled by the Mandhana family started availing credit facilities from the Bank of Baroda in 2008. On December 31, 2016, the account was declared a non-performing asset. The banks ordered a forensic audit which exposed several irregularities, including diversion of funds to settle inter-corporate debts, not using a Trust and Retention Account (TRA) to route ₹420.39 crore during July 2016-September 30, 2017, and fictitious purchases. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2024 carried out an investigation based on the CBI's FIR, which proved Manish, who was the director of the company from 2002 to 2019, allegedly conspired with the other directors of the company and caused a wrongful loss to the banks for personal enrichment, agency sources said. ED's probe revealed that he had incorporated numerous fictitious entities as employees and used them for diverting, and layering of the funds of MIL, including the loan funds. ED's probe also revealed that the accused allegedly made bogus sales purchases with different entities and diverted funds from the accounts of MIL, including the loan funds, to pay off his debts and those of his family members, agency sources said.
