Rs 5,000 cr bank fraud: Nitin Sandesara, family may have fled to Nigeria
NEW DELHI: A month after reports suggested that Nitin Sandesara, owner of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech and wanted by the CBI and the ED in a Rs 5,000 crore bank fraud, was detained in Dubai, it has now emerged that he is not in the UAE and could have fled to Nigeria.
According to top sources in the two agencies, Sandesara and other family members including brother Chetan Sandesara and sister-in-law Diptiben Sandesara were believed to be hiding in Nigeria. India doesn’t have an extradition treaty or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Nigeria and bringing them back from the African country would be difficult, sources said.
An officer, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “There were reports that Nitin Sandesara was detained by UAE authorities in Dubai in the second week of August. It was incorrect information. He was never detained in Dubai. He and other family members probably left for Nigeria much before that.”
However, the investigation agencies are planning to send a request to UAE authorities asking them to “provisionally arrest” the Sandesaras if they are seen there. Efforts are also on get Interpol red corner notices issued against the Sandesaras. It is not known if the Sandesaras travelled to Nigeria on Indian passports or some other country’s document.
The CBI and the ED have booked Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech+ , its directors Nitin, Chetan and Dipti Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former Andhra Bank director Anup Garg and unidentified persons for cheating banks of Rs 5,000 crore.
The ED arrested Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan and Garg and attached assets worth Rs 4,700 crore of the pharmaceutical firm in June. However, officials said bringing the Sandesaras back to India to face criminal trial was important as they had diverted huge amounts of money abroad.
It is alleged that the Sandesaras set up more than 300 shell and benami companies in India and abroad which were used to divert loans. Officials said the modus operandi for money laundering used by the Sandesaras involved formation of shell/benami companies, manipulating balance sheets, inflating turnover and insider shares trading. These firms were controlled by the Sandesaras through dummy directors, who were or are employees of various companies of the Sterling group. Bogus sales/purchases were shown between the benami companies and the Sterling group firms to divert loans and inflate turnover to obtain further loans from banks.
Courtesy: timesofindia
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KSRTC to run 1000 special services to clear X'mas rush
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.
In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.
Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.
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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.
The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.
In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.
