The Central Bureau of Investigation has asked Interpol in Nigeria to verify if absconding businessman and Sterling Biotech promoter Nitin Sandesara has entered their country, PTI reported on Tuesday.

The Enforcement Directorate is writing to seven countries asking them to keep a watch on Sandesara’s movements, according to The Indian Express.

The development follows reports that the director of Gujarat-based Sandesara Group and his family, also accused in the case, left India before the investigating agency discovered an alleged loan default worth Rs 5,383 crore.

India does not have an extradition treaty or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Nigeria.

The case

On October 28, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against the company for defaulting on loans worth Rs 5,383 crore. The CBI has alleged that the company secured the loans from a consortium of banks led by the Andhra Bank, and these have now turned into non-performing assets.

The CBI booked Nitin Sandesara, Sterling Biotech’s directors Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara, Rajbhushan Omprakash Dixit, and Vilas Joshi, chartered accountant Hemant Hathi, former director of Andhra Bank Anup Garg and other unidentified people.

In June, the Enforcement Directorate said it had attached company assets worth Rs 4,701 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate also registered a money laundering case against the company and its promoters Nitin and Chetan Sandesara in October. The agency believes the promoters siphoned off most of the loans the company defaulted on.

The group has business interests in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, oil and gas, engineering, infrastructure and seismic studies.