Sterling Biotech Director Defaults On A Loan Of Rs 5,300 Cr, Enforcement Directorate Files Chargesheet

On July 18, the Enforcement Directorate filed a charge sheet against Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, the director of Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Sterling Biotech under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The company has allegedly defaulted on loans worth Rs 5,300 crore.

The agency filed the chargesheet against Dixit in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Satish Arora in New Delhi.

ED files Prosecution complaint under PMLA against Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Director of #SterlingBiotechLtd in the Bank Loan Fraud Case. Assets worth Rs. 4700 chores are already attached in the case.

— ED (@dir_ed) July 18, 2018

The Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a case against the company in October 2017. The company had alleged taken loans from a consortium of banks led by the Andhra Bank. The loans taken have now turned into non-performing assets. The attachment amount is said to be the second highest, next to only Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. At that time, CBI had booked directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara and Vilas Joshi, and chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former director of Andhra Bank Anup Garg and other unidentified people in connection with the case. Dixit was sent to judicial custody in February. The agency has already frozen assets worth Rs 4,700 crore of Sterling Biotech Group.

It has also said that the “cross-border transactions” allegedly undertaken by the Sterling group are under probe.

Special Director of CBI involvement

Notably, the special director of CBI, Rakesh Asthana was also one of the accused in this case. It was alleged that he was a recipient of payment worth Rs 3.8 crore. The diary recovered in connection with this case had mentioned Asthana’s name. Although Asthana’s name was named in the FIR but was the subject of ongoing investigation.

Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan, on behalf of the NGO Common Cause had then challenged Asthana’s appointment(which can be watched here)

Also Read: Officer Accused Of Money Laundering Appointed As The New CBI Special Director