Delhi HC grants bail to ex-Andhra Bank Director Anup Prakash Garg in 5000 cr bank fraud case

The Delhi High Court yesterday granted bail to former Andhra Bank Director Anup Prakash Garg in a Rs. 5000 crore bank fraud case involving Sterling Biotech Limited (SBL)..Justice Mukta Gupta directed Garg to furnish a personal bond of Rs. 2 lakh, while asking him to not leave the country without prior permission of the Court. Garg was also prohibited from “directly or indirectly” influencing the witnesses or interfering in the further investigation of the case..The bank fraud was revealed after the recovery of certain documents during a search conducted by Income Tax authorities against SBL group of companies on June 28, 2011..Garg was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in January this year, pursuant to a complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002..It is the ED’s case that during Garg’s tenure as Director of Andhra Bank, SBL group availed credit facilities of ₹23,50,00,000 from Andhra Bank. A total of over Rs 5,000 crore was taken by SBL as loan from a consortium led by Andhra Bank..Garg allegedly received cash payments to the tune of ₹1,52,50,000 on the direction of the promoter of SBL between 2008 and 2009, which was withdrawn from various accounts of SBL group of companies in the form of cash..It is the investigating agency’s claim that this money was funded out of the credit facilities availed by SBL group which caused wrongful loss to the banks..Furthermore, it was found that money was allegedly diverted in purchasing shares in a company named M/s.RAG Buildtech Pvt. Ltd, managed by Garg’s son..Garg is also facing a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860..Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa appeared for Garg, while ED was represented by Standing Counsel Amit Mahajan..Read order below: