Publisher held for bank fraud of Rs 5.75 crore

CHENNAI: The CCB on Wednesday arrested a Tamil publisher on charges of defrauding a bank of Rs 5.75 crore and misappropriation of loan sanctioned by it.The arrest followed a complaint lodged by R Ravindran, regional manager of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank at Shenoy Nagar, stating that Trisakthi Publications Private Ltd submitted an application, seeking loan. The bank sanctioned Rs 1.8 crore for purchase of land, Rs 82.50 lakh towards construction of factory and Rs 6.11 crore for machineryThe complaint alleged that the publication owner Sundararaman, his wife and son misappropriated the funds. Further, they submitted a false quotation in the name of Safire Traders, citing Rs 5.75 crore as cost of machinery. When the bank sanctioned the amount, the accused opened an account in the name of Safire Traders and deposited the cheque in the account and later diverted the funds.