Rs 442-cr cheating case:Charge sheet against airline, 5 others

New

, Nov 4: The

has filed a charge sheet in a Delhi court against Paramount Airways Private Ltd, former CMD of Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd and four others for allegedly causing wrongful loss to five PSU banks and the insurance firm against which claims of Rs 442 crore were raised due to payment defaults by the airline.

In the charge sheet filed before special judge Pradeep Chaddah, the CBI said the accused conspired to cheat and cause loss to State Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Bank, Andhra Bank and IDBI and Oriental Insurance Co Ltd (OICL), a government undertaking, which had to bear claims of Rs 442 crore on default of payment by Paramount Airways to the banks.

The CBI alleged that Chennai-based Paramount Airways had taken credit insurance from Oriental Insurance for its multiple bank guarantees to cover its transactions with state-owned oil companies.

As the airlines defaulted in paying to oil companies under the contract guarantee, the oil companies invoked bank guarantees and the banks in turn raised the claims of Rs 442 crore on OICL, it said.

"The case was registered in July 2011 on complaint against Ramadoss and others for causing wrongful loss to the government of India i.e., OICL and five PSU banks in the content of claims of Rs 442 crore lodged on OICL by the banks on account of default of payment by Paramount Airways to the banks," the CBI said.

Besides the airline, M Ramadoss, the then CMD of OICL; M Thiagrajan, MD of the airline; V Harshvardhan, former deputy general manager of OICL; Niraj Kumar, OICL general manager; and Chandra Shekhar Tandon, DGM of OICL, have also been named as accused in the charge sheet.

PTI