The Income Tax Department on Monday said it has filed six cases for the prosecution of Rotomac owner Vikram Kothari in connection with the Rs 3,695 crore bank loan default case involving Bank of Baroda.
A senior I-T official told IANS: "We have filed six prosecution cases against Vikram Kothari, owner of the Rotomac group, on Saturday under the Income Tax Act, 1961."
The action comes in the wake of the registration of a case against Kothari, his son Rahul and wife Sadhna by the Central Bureau of Investigation following a Bank of Baroda complaint.
Kothari is Chairman and Managing Director of Rotomac while his wife and son are Directors.
Kothari had obtained loans from Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Oriental Bank of Commerce, the FIR said.
On Thursday, Kothari and his son were arrested for alleged loan default after four days of questioning.
On Saturday, a CBI court in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow handed over their custody to the agency for 11 days.
A CBI official told IANS that both had since been brought to Delhi for further questioning.
However, a Times of India report states that Vikram Kothari was being non-cooperativ and that he was not disclosing the details of shell companies, or how he used the Rs 2,919 crore he took from the banks, bank officials and private persons who connived with him.
This scam came to light after Bank of Baroda had filed a criminal complaint on Feb 18 alleging that Kothari borrowed Rs 2,919 crore froma consortium of seven banks. This amount, which together with penalties amounted to Rs 3,695 crore, was siphoned off by the Kotharis, the bank alleged.
BoI's exposure to Rotomac was pegged at Rs 754 crore. Among other lenders, Bank of Baroda had advanced Rs 456.63 crore, Indian Overseas Bank Rs 771 crore, Union bank of India Rs 459 crore, Allahabad Bank Rs 330 crore, Bank of Maharashtra Rs 50 crore, Oriental Bank of Commerce Rs 97 crore.
With IANS inputs