The CBI has uncovered a major financial fraud involving fake bank guarantees worth Rs 183.21 crore submitted by an Indore-based firm to MP Jal Nigam. Two individuals, including a PNB senior manager, have been arrested during raids across five states.
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated three distinct cases on May 9, in accordance with directives issued by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, the agency said in a release on Thursday.
According to the release, these cases involve a significant financial fraud involving an Indore-based company that submitted forged bank guarantees totalling Rs. 183.21 crores to the Madhya Pradesh Jol Nigam Limited (MP.JNL).
In 2023, the company secured three immigration projects in Madhya Pradesh worth a staggering Rs. 974 crores from MPJNL. To support these contracts, eight fake bank guarantees valued at Rs. 183.21 crores were submitted.
During initial verification, MP.JNL received fraudulent email responses impersonating the official domain of Punjab National Bank (PNB), falsely confirming the authenticity of the bank guarantees.
Relying on these confirmations, MP JNL awarded the firm three contracts valued at over Rs. 974 crores in this matter. The CBI launched a large-scale operation on June 19 and June 20, conducting searches at 23 locations across five states: New Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh. This operation led to the arrest of two individuals from Kolkata, including a senior manager from Punjab National Bank, the CBI said.
Both individuals were produced today before the local jurisdictional court in Kolkata and will be brought to Indore on transit remand, it said.
The investigation so far has revealed that a Kolkata-based syndicate has been systematically fabricating and circulating fake bank guarantees to secure government contracts across multiple states. Further investigation is still on, it added.
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