Yes Bank approached CBI alleging fraud by Ezeego One Travel and Tours Ltd
New Delhi:
Ezeego One Travel and Tours Ltd and its promoters and directors are now facing a case from CBI for allegedly defrauding Yes Bank of up to Rs 946 crore, officials said Monday. The Central Bureau of Investigation brought the case against the company and its executives Ajay Ajit Peter Kerkar, Urshilla Kekar, Neelu Singh, Arup Sen, Manisha Amarapurkar, Pesi Patel and Karthik Venkatraman.
Ezeego One Travel and Tours is a sister company of Cox and Kings Ltd. Ajay Ajit Peter Kerkar and Urshilla Kekar are the promoters of both companies.
The CBI in its First Information Report said that Ezeego, which was incorporated in 2006, is dedicated to offering travel products in the Indian market. The company first took credit lines from Yes Bank in 2017 for up to Rs 650 crore, which was increased to Rs 1,015 crore in September 2018. As the company defaulted on the payment, the account was declared non-performing asset (NPA) in June of 2019.
A forensic audit of the account found that the company indulged in diversion of funds and that the majority of the loan was transferred to Cox and Kings Ltd, the bank said in its complaint to the CBI.
Yes Bank alleged that the company took Rs 150 crore to close its loan account with Axis Bank and submitted documents showing the same, but the audit revealed that the company has not closed the loan and even became an NPA in 2019.
Based on the findings, Yes Bank classified the account as “fraud” and filed a complaint with the CBI, after which the CBI filed a criminal case against the promoters and directors of Ezeego.
The Enforcement Directorate had also said that the Cox and Kings group owes Rs 3,642 cror to Yes Bank.
On the other hand, CBI sources have told NDTV that they have received a complaint from the State Bank of India regarding a similar fraud committed by Cox and Kings Ltd with the public bank and it is under review.
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