New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at nine places across several states in connection with two bank fraud cases to the tune of Rs 452 crore and Rs 72 crore, respectively.

A CBI official said here that the agency registered a case against Ahmedabad-based Varia Engineering Works Pvt Ltd, Himanshu Prafulchand Varia, Sejal Varia, Krish Tech-con Pvt Ltd, unknown public servants and unknown others on a complaint by the State Bank of India for cheating it to the tune of Rs 452.62 crore.

The SBI in its complaint alleged that the Ahmedabad-based company and its officials cheated a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs. 452.62 crore from 2013 to 2017.

"It was alleged that between 2013 and 2017, the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy to defraud/cheat the consortium of banks comprising SBI, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank and Vijaya Bank in the matter of various credit facilities extended by them," the official said.

The SBI alleged that the accused manipulated the books of accounts and diverted the funds of the banks, thereby cheating the consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 452.62 crore.

Searches were conducted on Thursday at four places, including the official and residential premises of the private company and its directors in Ahmedabad which led to the recovery of incriminating documents.

Meanwhile, the also CBI registered a case of cheating Bank of Baroda to the tune of Rs 72.55 crore between 2017 and 2019 against Gandhinagar-based Gopala Polyplast Ltd, Manish Mahendra Somani, Manoj Mahendra Somani, Kishorilal Sonthalia, unknown public servants and unknown others.

The official said that it was alleged that during 2017-2019, the company availed various credit facilities which were enhanced and reviewed by the bank.

"It was further alleged that the continuous overdraft in the account and development of LCs resulted in the account becoming NPA. It was also alleged that the forensic audit report of the bank had revealed the irregularities in the account and that the directors had diverted off the loan proceeds, thereby causing loss to the bank," the official said.

The CBI carried out searches at five places, including the official and residential premises of the private company and its directors, in Gujarat and Mumbai, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents.