Ex-SBI chief held in loan scam
The Hindu
Pratip Chaudhuri sent to judicial custody for 15 days
The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer city on Monday sent former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) Pratip Chaudhuri to judicial custody for 14 days, rejecting his bail application in an alleged loan scam. Mr. Chaudhuri was arrested from his Delhi residence based on warrants issued by the court.
The case against Mr. Chaudhuri, who retired from the SBI in 2013, pertained to two hotel properties worth ₹200 crore in Jaisalmer having been sold at a much lower price of ₹25 crore after declaring them the non-performing assets (NPA).
The Godawan Group had taken a loan of ₹24 crore from SBI for its hotel project in 2007. The project remained incomplete for over three years, while another hotel of the group was functioning. The key promoter died in April 2010, after which the account slipped into NPA in June 2010. The SBI moved on to seize both the hotels when Mr. Chaudhuri was the chairman and later sold them to an asset reconstruction company (ARC), Alchemist, at ₹25 crore as part of its recovery efforts. Mr. Chaudhuri subsequently joined Alchemist as a director after his retirement from SBI.