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Kathmandu Thursday January 04, 2001 Paush 20, 2057.
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Indosuez
bank duped in lending
Gopal Devkota
BIRGUNJ, Jan 3 - Hardly a
month after Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) was swindled of Rs 30 million, another incident
involving Rs 10 million has come into limelight, this time involving Nepal Indosuez Bank.
The name of Mittal Brothers have surfaced in both transactions.
The brothers, Raju Mittal and
Bishnu Mittal, known to transact with almost half a dozen banks in Birgunj, were, however,
unavailable for comments.
Two of their transactions
have already led to the initiation of auctioning of the collateral involved, one by RBB
and the other being that of the collateral pledged for the Rs 10 million credit from
Indosuez Bank. The auctioning process was initiated after default in payment of interest
and the auction was to take place today.
"It never occurred that
the party will default in paying the interest amount. The lost money would be compensated
through the collateral," said Tulsi Ram Gautam, Manager of Indosuez Bank in Birgunj.
Though Indosuez Bank has
claimed that it would be able to retrieve the lost money through the collateral pledged,
local business entrepreneurs claim that the bank in no way can recover the full Rs 10
million.
Employees of the bank allege
that Mittal Brothers have pledged the collateral at an inflated value. "The brothers
are involved in taking bank employees into their confidence before indulging in shady
transactions, putting at risk millions of rupees belonging to different banks," said
an employee requesting anonymity.
Though Indosuez is likely to
recover a part of their loss, Rs 30 million lent by RBB is irrecoverable since no
collateral was pledged. The RBB scam had taken place on a letter of credit drawn for the
payment of 65 trucks of chillies being imported from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
"Since the green signal
for the Rs 30 million LC was given from the top (indicating the RBB head office), it would
be wise to question the top authorities for the limit to the LC," said Manager of RBB
branch Birgunj Hemanta Raj Joshi.
"However, the fault lies
with East India Transport Company in the Rs 30 million LC transaction. RBB will file a
case and recover the money," he added. However, RBB employees say that no action on
the scam so far has been initiated.
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