Six booked for machinery loan misappropriation

Rajkot: A case has been registered at Junagadh B Division police station for cheating and breach of trust under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against six persons — Ronak Shekhda, Kajal Shekhda, Mohammad Riaz, Dost Mohammad Khira, Yasin Khira and Ravi Virdiya.

The complaint was filed by 34-year-old Diwakar Kothari, a manager with Canara Bank.

According to the FIR, on March 16, 2024, the partners in a firm called Titan Exim, Ronak and Kajal, went to the Rajkot loan department of the bank and sought a business loan of Rs 2.10 crore to buy two machines to make plastic packaging sheets. Ronak offered land at Patla village road in Bhesan taluka as collateral. A team from the bank visited the proposed factory site and the land to verify the details.

Ronak submitted documents including land ownership papers, income tax returns, machinery price quotations and the company balance sheet. Based on these documents, a loan of Rs 1.95 crore was sanctioned on March 27, 2024.

On June 19, 2024, Rs 1.38 crore was transferred to the account of Titan Exim. The vendor supposedly supplying the machines claimed delivery would take 30 days.

During an inspection at the factory site on Aug 14, 2024, it was found that the machinery had not been delivered by the vendor, Noble Edge Industries.

Further inquiry revealed that Ronak and Kajal had transferred Rs 1.38 crore to Noble Edge Industries and another Rs 37.17 lakh to Like Engineering in Rajkot. However, neither company supplied the machines.

The investigation found that the loan had been was misappropriated and the machine orders were intentionally cancelled without the bank's knowledge. It also came to light that there were internal financial dealings among the accused and cheques related to the mortgaged land were dishonoured.