Yes Bank contacted 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 for up to Rs 946 crore, officials said on Monday. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a complaint 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.
In its first briefing report, the CBI stated that Ezeego, which was incorporated in 2006, is engaged in offering travel products to the Indian market. The company first took out credit facilities from Yes Bank in 2017 for an amount of up to Rs 650 crore, which was increased to Rs 1,015 crore in September 2018. With the company in default, the account was declared non-performing asset (NPA) in June 2019.
A forensic audit of the account found that the company had engaged in embezzlement and that a majority of the loan had been transferred to Cox and Kings Ltd, the bank said in its complaint to the CBI.
Yes Bank alleged that the company took 150 crore rupees to close its loan account with Axis Bank and submitted documents showing it, but the audit found that the company did not close the loan and even that it became NPA in 2019.
Based on the findings, Yes Bank characterized the account as “fraud” and filed a complaint with the CBI, following which the CBI filed a criminal complaint against the promoters and administrators of Ezeego.
The Law Enforcement Directorate also said that the Cox and Kings group owed Rs 3,642 crore to Yes Bank.
Separately, CBI sources told GalacticGaming that they received a complaint from the State Bank of India regarding a similar fraud by Cox and Kings Ltd with the public bank and the same is under investigation.
