A Delhi court here has denied bail to a man in a money laundering case related to an alleged bank loan fraud, saying such “unscrupulous shenanigans” erode public trust and weaken the foundations of the economy.
Dismissing Bharat Rana Chaudhary’s bail application, Special Judge Neelofer Abida Perveen termed the modus operandi used by him ‘sinister’, and said he was “prima facie” tampering with evidence and creating false evidence.
The ED claimed Chaudhary caused a loss of around Rs 30 crore to Punjab National Bank due to credit repayment default from 2010 to 2012. “The allegations are exceedingly serious, the offence grave, not merely from the standpoint of the large volume of POC (proceeds of crime) involved, but the modus operandi was so elaborate and sinister that the accused, adopting such devious designs, succeeded in duping the bank multiple times, siphoning off huge amounts of public money in the process, layering and re-routing the same to himself, and gratifying other unsavoury elements and operations in the process,” the judge said.
She said there was no material placed before the court to record a prima facie satisfaction in favour of the accused; he was not guilty of money laundering.
