Sterling Biotech case: Court asks absconding promoters to give ED their address within 15 days
The Enforcement Directorate said the process to extradite them from Italy and Nigeria was under way.
A Delhi court on Thursday asked two absconding promoters of Sterling Biotech Limited to give their address to the Enforcement Directorate within 15 days, PTI reported. The two accused had moved the court seeking the cancellation of non-bailable warrants issued against them in a Rs 8,100-crore bank fraud case.
The application was moved by a counsel appearing for Nitin Sandesara and Chetankumar Sandesara. The Enforcement Directorate opposed their plea, saying the extradition process from Italy and Nigeria was under way. The court listed the matter for April 2.
On January 21, the agency had told the court that it had initiated the extradition process for four promoters – Nitin Sandesara, Chetankumar Sandesara, Dipti Chetan Sandesara and Hiteshkumar Patel.
Meanwhile, the court also granted bail to another promoter, Hemant Hathi, on a surety of Rs 1 lakh, PTI reported.
In October, the agency had moved court to declare the four accused directors fugitive economic offenders under a new law. The ED has made similar petitions to declare liquor baron Vijay Mallya and diamond jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi as fugitive economic offenders.
In December, the court had issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against the four promoters of the Gujarat pharma firm in the case.
The case
In October 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a case against the company for defaulting on loans worth Rs 5,383 crore. The CBI had alleged that the company took the loans from a consortium of banks led by the Andhra Bank and then defaulted on them.
The CBI booked the Sandesaras, 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 the company’s assets worth Rs 4,701 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate also registered a money laundering case against the company and its promoters in October. The agency believes the promoters siphoned off most of the loans the company defaulted on.